


Visions

by FireStorm1991



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Drama, F/M, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 82,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27750790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireStorm1991/pseuds/FireStorm1991
Summary: Bardock was not the only one who had visions of Frieza. Little Vegeta had the visions as well. Escaping to Earth, his visions lead him to meeting a young girl. Could she be the key to helping him take down a ruthless tyrant?Original FFN Post Date: April 6, 2013
Relationships: Bulma Briefs/Vegeta
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters.
> 
> So, for this story I was thinking, what if Bardock wasn’t the only one who had visions of Frieza and the future. What if a certain prince knew of his fate ahead of time? What would have been done differently?

He was tossing and turning in his sleep, a young prince of a desert planet. He saw it all from the moment the deal with the tyrant was made to a scene where his planet, his home, his people would all be destroyed. The young boy cried out into his empty room, breathing heavily, trying to determine where he was.

“Prince Vegeta,” he heard the voice of his family’s bodyguard, who had obviously been making his rounds, call out.

“B-B-Bardock?” Vegeta asked, not sure if he heard the voice of his family’s most trusted guard.

“Yes, my prince, it’s me,” he replied. “What happened?”

“Freiza,” he replied looking away from Bardock.

Bardock seemed confused by his reply. The young prince had only been around Frieza a handful of times. The only reason Bardock couldn’t stand him was because of the visions he had been having, like the one he had now causing him to check on Vegeta. There was no way a six year old could grasp the full extent of the planet’s position. “What do you mean, Vegeta?”

“H-he’s going to take me away,” Vegeta said hesitantly. “And then he’s going to destroy everyone.”

Bardock was in shock. The prince had had the same vision he just did. _I wonder what the king will say._

* * *

And when Bardock reported to King Vegeta, his friend laughed in his face.

“Bardock, old friend,” King Vegeta laughed, “I think that last purging mission I sent you on has caused you to lose your mind.”

“With all due respect, my king,” Bardock said calmly, kneeling before his leader and friend, “but I am not the only one that had this vision.”

The king’s expression hardened. “Who else?”

“Your son.”

* * *

Vegeta trained just like he did on a normal day. Bardock suggested that he pretend as if nothing had happened, so that the entire planet didn’t retaliate against Frieza at once. This needed to be handled by the royal family. Despite his fear regarding his current situation, Vegeta did just that.

“Prince Vegeta, what’s wrong?” his trainer, Nappa, asked. “You took four minutes longer to defeat one less Saiybaman. What’s going on?”

Vegeta hesitated. He thought he had been acting normal, but now he realized. He just wasn’t there in the fight and it showed in the way he fought and how he moved. That must have been what his father and Nappa always talk about when they say “watching your opponent” and “reading your opponent’s moves.” But what could he do? He couldn’t just un-see what he saw.

“Nappa, are you implying that I’m getting weak?” Vegeta said calmly, yet defensively.

“No Prince Vegeta,” Nappa replied, his voice laced with worry. “It’s just that you are clearly not yourself. I am just worried about your well-being.”

“Well you don’t need to be,” Vegeta lied. “I’m fine.” He whispered that last part, trying to convince himself that everything was okay and that he wasn’t going to be taken away from his planet and family.

* * *

“Sir?” The king turned to face Bardock and sighed.

“Fine,” King Vegeta said in shame. “I’ll admit it. I made an agreement with Frieza that if he would be given Vegeta, that he would leave the planet be. My wife does not know. I was under the impression that my son did not know.”

“My king, why would you promise something like that to Frieza? We need to fight, not let him walk all over us.”

“Bardock, I am your king and you will not fight me on this,” King Vegeta said adamantly. “If we don’t fight back, the planet will be safe, but if you try to go after Frieza, he will kill us all.”

“I am sorry my king,” Bardock replied, “but I will not sit around and let the prince be taken away.”

Bardock flew out of the throne room, but could still hear the king ask, “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

It meant that the prince was getting off the planet tonight, before Frieza could take him. He would be their only hope.

* * *

The young prince bid goodnight to his mother and father and was ready to let sleep claim him. It didn’t happen. For the first time in little Vegeta’s life, he was terrified of what would come the next day. A knock on his door brought him back to reality. “Come in,” he ordered. When Bardock entered the room with his eldest son, Raditz, with whom Vegeta had sparred with once, he relaxed. He knew that, for the moment, he was safe.

“Prince Vegeta,” Bardock greeted, “we are getting you off the planet tonight. You remember my son, correct?” Vegeta nodded. “I have given him the task of guarding you from now on. We need to get you off Planet Vegeta now.”

Vegeta felt his chest tighten. He didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t want his vision to come true. Maybe if he did something different, it would change the vision as a whole. Vegeta nodded in agreement and quickly got out of his bed and packed a few things to remind himself of home. When they reached the loading dock, Nappa was leaning against one of the pods with his arms crossed. Vegeta noted that Bardock didn’t look happy.

“Are you here to stop us?” Bardock asked.

“Stop you? No,” Nappa replied. “But it is my job to train the prince. I’m going with them. We’ll keep in touch.”

Bardock and Raditz relaxed. Vegeta hadn’t really been nervous. He had yet to grasp the situation. Everyone standing in the room knew that he probably would never be coming home and would never see his parents again.

Raditz helped Vegeta into a pod and explained to him everything that would happen during take-off, flight, and landing, just to make sure the child wouldn’t be nervous about any of the sounds or being forced into a dreamless sleep for days at a time.

“Where to?” Raditz asked Nappa after Vegeta was safe and comfortable in the pod.

“To the farthest planet from here, or the farthest we can get on our fuel limit,” Nappa answered with a shrug.

Raditz typed in a few quadrants in all directions. “I think the last place Frieza would ever think to look is here,” he said pointing to a blinking dot on the screen. “It’s called Earth.”

“Earth it is.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters.

It had been days since the three Saiyans landed on Planet Earth and all seemed peaceful. They had landed near a meadow with a large cave. Saiyans, being so attuned to nature, managed to make a comfortable living space out of the cave in the more wooded area. They lived near a stream and forest so they were able to get all of the resources they need. They thought it would be best if they avoided contact with the human race as much as possible. The last thing they needed was to become a science experiment.

Nappa had gotten in contact with Bardock and so far the king was blissfully unaware of the fact that his son was missing from the kingdom. The sad part was that it was normal for the king and prince not to see each other for weeks at a time if the king had meetings and the prince was training. The queen knew, and she was for her son’s disappearance if it only meant that Frieza would be delayed in getting his twisted hands on him.

Vegeta continued having visions, but kept them to himself. He didn’t know what Raditz or Nappa knew. He would probably end up telling Raditz eventually since his father had visions and he probably wouldn’t think he was insane. Truth was Vegeta was beginning to form a brotherly bond with Raditz. Nappa was his trainer, not a friend and not family, just a respected trainer and comrade in future battles. Raditz, however, treated Vegeta like a brother, and it wasn’t just because he felt obligated from the duties his father had dumped on him. The elder Saiyan truly cared for his wellbeing. Vegeta knew that Raditz had a real brother, they all knew, but that didn’t seem to lessen the familial relationship they had.

“Vegeta, you okay?”

Vegeta had been meditating near the stream, though further away from the cave. He wanted to be alone, but he could never meet that desire with the other two Saiyans around him.

“I’m fine, Raditz,” the young prince replied.

Raditz could tell he was lying and sighed. “Vegeta, my father told me about your ability, that you have visions like he does. You should never try to hide them, no matter how terrible. That will only destroy you.”

Vegeta scoffed arrogantly. “You don’t think your prince is strong enough to handle it?”

Raditz smirked a bit, but went back to frowning at the young boy. He was dealing with forces that he could not handle alone. Where the older warrior took pride in his prince’s words, he knew that the arrogance was merely a front. He knew for he had watched his father deteriorate once before when he first had his own visions. If you kept the visions to yourself, they would come back again and again. Seeing the images multiple times would drive the young boy mad.

Instead of responding or leaving, Raditz took a seat next to his prince and started his own meditation. Vegeta went back to meditating as well. Both warriors were in tune with the elements around them, and for a brief second, before either could tell what was happening, Raditz saw what the prince was so desperate to hide.

_Fire, blood, piercing screams._

_Those were the words to describe their home planet. Frieza and his men led an attack on the people and there was no one strong enough to stop him, not even the prince who was currently away._

_“Frieza, what is the meaning of this?” King Vegeta asked forcefully. All he had said was that the prince was away for special training, but would be back in enough time to be handed over._

_“Oh, Vegeta, you are a fool,” Frieza said in a sickening sweet voice. “You make it sound like I wasn’t planning on doing this in the first place. I was actually on my way here to pick the prince up early because I was bored and wanted another planet to destroy. Oh well, the prince is gone. It matters not, for I’m sure I will come across him one day, but for now…”_

_Frieza didn’t even finish his statement. He just shot the king with a ki blast through his stomach._

Raditz didn’t see any of the other visions. Vegeta realized what was going on and opened his eyes, effectively ending the connection. He stared at Raditz, his eyes full of hatred, rage, but more importantly confusion and betrayal.

“Prince Vegeta,” Raditz said calmly.

Vegeta growled and shouted, “Leave me alone,” before flying off.

Raditz sighed and went back to meditating with the prince’s expression still on his mind. His eyes had been filled with many emotions, like confusion and anger, but they were also filled with betrayal and hate. Raditz took no offense as those emotions weren’t directed towards him or his accidental intrusion. The king had done a very un-Saiyan like thing. He had betrayed his first born son, and betrayal towards family was one of the worst crimes a Saiyan could commit.

* * *

Raditz eventually went back to the cave and found Nappa screaming into one of the communication devices before pounding it, effectively breaking the device.

“What’s your problem?” Raditz sneered.

Nappa jumped at the sound of the young man’s voice before glaring at him. “Where’s the prince?”

Raditz shrugged, pretending not to be concerned that the prince had yet to return. “Around.”

“Good,” Nappa replied. “Raditz,” he said carefully, not to alarm the young Saiyan, “our worst fear has been realized.”

“Frieza,” Raditz breathed out. It seemed like the tyrant actually did purge the planet like in Vegeta’s vision.

Nappa nodded. “It’s actually worse than we thought.” Raditz shot him a confused look. “He didn’t just purge the planet. That bastard destroyed it.”

“W-what?” Raditz asked hesitantly. He knew showing weakness like that was looked down upon, but he could tell Nappa was in the same boat he was.

“He touched down on the planet and everyone was putting up a fight, but Frieza and his men were much stronger. I was speaking to your father who said that Frieza and the king were having an argument. He thinks Frieza killed him and went to go find the queen so that they could escape. I heard him scream out about something, and then everything went dead.”

“That doesn’t mean the planet is gone,” Raditz said rushing over to the small radar they had. He nearly fainted when Planet Vegeta did not appear on the screen. “H-how could he…?”

Nappa didn’t have an answer for him. “The prince is not to know,” he ordered.

Raditz shook his head. “You want me to keep this a secret from a young child who is expecting to return to his parents in a few years. What could possibly go wrong with that?”

“The prince needs to focus on his training, not on the destruction of our planet. When he is strong enough, we will tell him, but until then you are to say nothing, understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Raditz muttered under his breath before flying off to go look for the prince.

Vegeta watched as Raditz left the cave to go search for him. He had heard everything, and seen everything earlier. Knowing that it was seen as weak to cry for a loss, the young prince decided to hide his feelings and pretend like he hadn’t heard anything.

At the same time he was about to enter the cave, he heard something crash-land somewhere nearby. He shrugged it off as a pathetic human invention and entered the cave. He didn’t even bother to greet Nappa.

* * *

Six years had passed since that day, and Vegeta, now twelve years old, was out walking in the forest alone. He was deep in thought, trying to piece together his most recent visions. They were of a young girl, his age, with hair as blue as the sea and eyes to match. He had visions of meeting her, travelling with her, and learning about all of her technology, technology that would help him train. _Who is she?_ Vegeta asked himself. He didn’t even realize how dark it gotten. The moon would be rising soon and tonight it would be full. _Shit! Well, better find some cover._

Meanwhile, back at the cave, Nappa was freaking out. “Where is the prince? He knows he shouldn’t be out during the full moon! He’ll be spotted by someone and we’ll have to find another planet to hide out on until we have a plan to defeat Frieza!”

Raditz rolled his eyes. The eighteen year old had grown to highly dislike the eldest Saiyan. Nappa was incredibly strict with him and Vegeta and the two boys found themselves learning more from each other alone than from their “trainer.” Raditz knew that Vegeta had some type of hiding spot in the woods and that he would go there to avoid the full moon. “He’s fine, Nappa,” Raditz growled. “Vegeta knows what he’s doing.”

Nappa glared at Raditz. “Vegeta? Have you forgotten your place, third-class?”

Raditz forced himself not to attack because of the insult. It was true that Raditz had been born with a weak power level, but he had made up for it in intelligence in battle. Even if he was a “third-class” he managed to defeat many first-class warriors and some elites. Even against Vegeta, he managed to win a fight at least twice.

“Prince Vegeta is my friend and brother as well as my prince, which you would have noticed if you pay attention to what the boy is going through.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Nappa snapped.

Raditz hesitated. His father told him to keep Vegeta’s visions a secret. He decided to side-step the vision conversation. “Vegeta knows that Frieza destroyed our planet.”

“You told him?”

“No, but he may have overheard. He’s been hiding his knowledge for the last six years.”

“That boy,” Nappa muttered shaking his head. “He’s going to be the death of me.”

 _Oh boy I hope so,_ Raditz thought bitterly.

* * *

Vegeta could not sleep. The twelve year old was having enough visions to give him nightmares, and they all had to do with the woman. Mating, family, commitment…he had no idea that he would be the type to give into that. He was still young, but in a few years’ time he would understand.

The moon was out; Vegeta could feel it. Even if he wasn’t being affected by the blutz waves, he could feel it in his blood. He could even hear the sound of the Oozaru calling in the night. Wait, Oozaru? That could only mean either Nappa or Raditz got caught outside, though neither would be that stupid. No, it had to be someone else. But they were the only three Saiyans on the planet and left in existence. It was impossible, yet Vegeta couldn’t help but feel that he had forgotten something. His eyes widened in realization.

The explosion six years ago. It had to have been a Saiyan ship.

The next morning, Vegeta went out in search of the other Saiyan. He could only figure out where to go by remembering the direction the sounds came from the previous night. He ended up higher on the mountain near a small house. He stared up at the house, studying its structure.

Out of nowhere, a small boy popped out of the bushes, running around without any clothes. Vegeta instantly noticed his tail and the fact that he looked like Bardock. _That must be Kakarot…_

“Oh, hi there, have you seen my grandpa? I can’t find him anywhere.”

Vegeta raised his brow at the young Saiyan. “Your ‘grandpa?’”

“Uh-huh, Grandpa Gohan. Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Goku. What’s your name?”

Vegeta’s eyes widened. Kakarot had no memory of being a Saiyan, or his name. He would have to explain much later. “Vegeta.”

“V…Vege…ta?” Goku asked. “That’s a hard name to say. Can I call you Veggie?”

Vegeta glared at the young boy and then shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s go find your ‘grandfather.’”

“Thanks, Veggie,” Goku said with a bright smile. Vegeta just grunted in response.

Vegeta and Goku split up momentarily, and Vegeta stumbled across the body of the boy’s “grandfather.” It was obvious what had happened. Goku had gone out during the full moon and transformed and accidently crushed the old man. Now he too was alone, without a family except for Raditz. Vegeta couldn’t help but empathize with him.

“G-Grandpa…”

Vegeta turned to find Goku standing there, crying over his loss.

“H-He warned me never to go out during a full moon.” Vegeta wondered if the boy had remembered what had happened. “He said there was a monster that attacked everyone. I just wanted to see the moon. I never saw it so big before. H-He must have come looking for me and gotten hurt.”

Vegeta’s stern face softened as he frowned. He didn’t have the heart to tell the kid what had truly happened.

“I shouldn’t have gone out…”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Vegeta said. “Sometimes we can’t control what happens to our families.”

Goku sniffled a bit and looked up at Vegeta. “Did you lose your family too?”

“Yes.”

“I need to bury grandpa,” Goku told him. “I…I don’t want to say goodbye.”

“Then don’t,” Vegeta replied. Goku looked at him in confusion. “Just say see you in the future.”

Goku thought about it for a minute, his tail twitching back and forth. “Hey, that’s right. But it’ll be a long time. I’m still little.”

Vegeta smirked. “You should come with me until then.”

“Really?” Goku asked in shock. “But why? I don’t know you.” Vegeta uncurled his tail from around his waist. “Hey, you have a tail too!”

“Yes, and there are two others like us.” Goku tilted his head. “Saiyans. We come from another planet. Actually, you have a brother.”

“Really?” Goku asked before grinning. “Cool! What’s he like?”

“Loyal, smart, and a decent opponent.”

“What’s his name?”

“Raditz.”

“That sounds like radishes,” Goku said with a laugh.

Vegeta decided to tease him too. “Well your name is Kakarot.”

“Ew, that sounds like carrots. I hate carrots.”

Vegeta laughed. Most Saiyans did hate the orange vegetable, so Kakarot was a very rare name indeed.

All laughs aside, the atmosphere grew very heavy again. They still had to honor his grandfather.

“I should take him home,” Goku said. “He really liked being by the lake. We used to go fishing all the time.”

“I’ll go with you,” Vegeta told him, picking up the body of the man who raised the little Saiyan.

“Veggie…thank you…”

After the short burial, Goku picked up a few things, like the power pole his grandfather gave him. He left a strange looking sphere on the pillow and said, “See you again soon, grandpa.”

“We can come back,” Vegeta stated making Goku’s face light up.

“You would do that?”

Vegeta nodded looking at all the pictures of the older man as a young fighter. “It seems like he was a warrior. In our culture, we always honor our fallen warriors.”

Goku nodded. “He was strong. He taught me everything I know.”

Vegeta patted the small boys shoulder. “Let’s go, Kakarot.”

“Okay, Veggie.”

And with that, the two Saiyans made their way back to the cave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So Vegeta has met Goku…or Kakarot…oh whatever -_- Anyways, next chapter will be another time skip. Just guess who they will be meeting next :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters.

Four years had passed and Kakarot, or Goku, was now twelve years old. Every year, on the anniversary of his grandfather’s death, the four Saiyans would travel up the mountains to pay their respects while the small boy mourned.

“Why do we do this again?” Nappa asked bitterly. As far as he was concerned, the human was a fool for trying to raise the Saiyan child. “He was just a pathetic human.”

Vegeta and Raditz looked to each other, rolling their eyes. The teenaged prince and twenty-two year old soldier had gotten to the point where Nappa’s teachings were useless and they grew irritated with his strict, superior, bossy attitude. Vegeta turned to face his taller guardian with authority.

“This man raised Kakarot and taught him to fight, a lot better than you have.” Vegeta ignored Nappa’s growl at the obvious insult. “It is proper tradition to respect our dead.”

“That’s the point!” Nappa shouted. “He is NOT our dead.”

“Are you questioning your prince?” Vegeta asked with his brow raised.

Nappa faltered a bit. “No, sire,” he muttered looking away.

“Veggie? Raditz?” The three Saiyans looked over to Goku. “I think I’m ready.”

Vegeta nodded over to him and the small boy ran up to his two older brothers and hugged them. Vegeta and Raditz smirked down at him, but Nappa muttered something about “worthless Earthling emotions.”

Just then, the four Saiyans picked up the sound of a motor headed towards them.

“Is that a monster?” Goku asked.

“No Kakarot,” Raditz replied. He looked over to Vegeta. “Who would drive all the way out here?” Raditz asked him.

Vegeta shrugged, although he had a pretty good idea. He had been having visions of this day for years and he knew it would involve meeting the blue-haired girl. Part of him was nervous, because of all of his future visions of him and her together, but the other part of him was excited at meeting the intelligent, young girl.

Out of nowhere, a car shot through the trees as the driver had clearly lost control of the vehicle. A young girl gasped when she saw that she was about to crash into people.

She called out the window, “Out of the way! I can’t stop!”

Nappa shook his head, thinking about how they were soon to be discovered, and was ready to fly off and let the girl crash into a tree or something. Raditz held Goku back, because he wanted to “fight the monster trying to attack Veggie.” Vegeta just grinned and stood there, letting her crash into him, effectively stopping and breaking the out-of-control vehicle.

An air-bag prevented the blue-haired girl from crashing into the windshield. She sighed in relief before Vegeta spoke up.

“If I were you, I’d get out of that vehicle.”

“Huh?” Bulma questioned.

When she didn’t move, Vegeta forcefully pulled her out of her car. “How dare you?” she yelled, trying to get away from him. “Bulma Briefs will not be man-handled.”

Vegeta smirked and pulled her away from the car that exploded not even ten seconds later. Bulma starred at the vehicle in a mixture of shock and terror. Goku tugged on Raditz’s hand and said, “I think the monster died,” which made Raditz chuckle.

Bulma turned to face Vegeta. “H-How did you know it was going to explode like that?” she asked him. Vegeta just shrugged. He looked over to Raditz who also looked questioning. He knew Vegeta had still been having visions. Powers like that don’t just go away. But he hadn’t ever told him about when he had visions or what they were of. “Well, I owe you a ‘thank you.’ If it weren’t for you, I’d be a goner.”

Vegeta flashed her another smirk and said, “Well, we wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

Bulma stood there is shock as she heard his voice. He sounded hot, at least to Bulma. She blushed as she realized that she was staring at him. Vegeta didn’t seem to mind as he took in the girl’s beauty. “You said your name was Bulma, correct?” Bulma nodded, surprised at how eloquently he spoke. “My name is Vegeta.”

Goku ran up to them and started studying Bulma, poking her. “What the heck are you doing?” she asked the child.

Goku looked up at her confused. “You look different than we do. You don’t even have a tail.”

Nappa face-palmed while Raditz just chuckled and pulled Kakarot away from the girl. “Leave her alone, Kakarot,” he playfully chided.

“Her? Oh, you mean she’s a girl?” Goku asked innocently. Bulma’s eyes nearly bugged out when she heard the question. She looked back to Vegeta who was trying to conceal his laughter.

“What does he mean by that?” Bulma asked Vegeta. She nearly kicked Goku when he put his hand a little lower than her stomach.

Raditz pulled him up and flashed Bulma an apologetic look while blushing. “Um, he’s never seen a female before,” Raditz explained. “We tried explaining things, but this knuckle head hit his head as a child and sometimes it just goes in one ear and out the other.”

“O…kay?” Bulma replied unsure. “Wait, he has a tail; you all do. Why?”

Nappa was about to tell her to go jump off the mountain, but Vegeta beat him to it. He knew what to say to her thanks to his visions; and he knew she would believe him.

“We are Saiyans, part of a warrior race. A tyrant from another planet enslaved us and attempted to take me into his position when I was six so that I would train to be his soldier. The four of us escaped, though we didn’t find Kakarot until later. I am the prince and we are here to train to one day defeat him and take vengeance for what he did to our planet.”

Nappa flashed Raditz a glare. Raditz just huffed and watched the interaction with the prince and this girl.

“That’s quite a story, Vegeta, or should I call you Prince Vegeta?” Bulma asked playfully.

Vegeta’s serious expression disappeared as he smirked at the girl. “Maybe, Bulma Briefs, just maybe I will allow you to drop my title.”

“Well, isn’t that generous of you?” she said with a smile. “But what are you doing out here?”

“We’re visiting my grandpa,” Goku said as he pointed inside.

“More like honoring him,” Raditz corrected.

Bulma flashed a sympathetic look to the small boy who ran off to go look at the “monster” that blew up. “Kakarot was sent here separate from us with pre-set coordinates,” Vegeta explained now that the boy was distracted. “It was a random purging mission, but thankfully he forgot his orders due to the injury. If you ask Nappa, though, he gets pissed off about it. His grandfather named him ‘Goku.’”

“What about you three?” Bulma asked. “What are you to him?”

Vegeta continued to talk quietly with her while Raditz was trying to keep Nappa from blowing a gasket. “As I said, I am the prince of Planet Vegeta, named after my father. He was planning on handing me over to a tyrant. Raditz’s and Kakarot’s father knew that the lizard was planning to destroy the planet whether or not his demand for me was met. He was my father’s most trusted guard. With his help, he got me off the planet with his son. Nappa, my trainer, headed us off and came with us. That is how we got here.”

Bulma thought about it for a minute, and then smirked at Vegeta. “What makes you think I believe your story? Space stuff and aliens is a little farfetched. What if I think you guys escaped a loony-bin, hm? What’s to stop me from calling someone?”

“You won’t,” Vegeta stated as a fact. “You’ve seen some stuff in your life that makes you believe in space travel and aliens.”

Bulma gasped. “How do you know that?”

“Let’s just say I’m good at reading people,” Vegeta replied. “So tell me,” he said not ever seeing what her reasons for being here were, “what is a city girl such as yourself doing in the middle of the woods on a mountain alone?”

Bulma didn’t know how he knew she was from the city either, but he was right about her believing him. They had tails for goodness sakes. But she didn’t know what she should say to him. Bulma Briefs, sixteen years of age, had gone off to search for Dragon Balls, magical spheres that when gathered together granted a wish. She was going to wish for the perfect boyfriend after so having so many that were only after her money and fame. But now she was thinking about the story that Vegeta has just told her. She’d be a terrible person if she kept this a secret from someone who was so honest with her and saved her life without knowing her.

She took out the two balls she had. “I’m looking for the Dragon Balls,” she admitted. “There’s a legend that says if you collect all seven of them then you would get a wish from the Eternal Dragon. Then they’d be dead for like a year. I built a radar to sense their locations. It brought me here.”

Vegeta nodded, though he was shocked that there was something so powerful as to grant a wish. _Our people,_ he thought sadly. It was a nice thought, but the girl was obviously looking for them for a reason. Then Vegeta remembered the sphere that Goku had. “We have it,” he told her.

Bulma frowned. She couldn’t possibly ask for it after hearing the sadness and hopelessness in his voice. Looking to the balls she had, she sighed in defeat. “Here,” she said, placing them in Vegeta’s hands. “I think you should have them.”

Vegeta was shocked by her gesture. _She’s giving up her wish for people, scratch that, aliens she doesn’t even know?_ “Why? Don’t you need them?”

Bulma flash a smile that told Vegeta that she was disappointed in herself. “I was going to wish for something stupid and selfish. Believe me; I’m sure they’re going to better use in your hands.”

Bulma started to walk away pondering how she was going to get home. She didn’t notice Vegeta run in front of her and crashed into him. She looked at him questioningly before his calm and gentle voice spoke up.

“Come with us,” he said, knowing that in his visions they were to travel together. At the time, he hadn’t known why.

Bulma frowned and shook her head. “You don’t even know me,” she pointed out. “Why would you want me coming with you?”

“Because I do,” Vegeta replied. “Don’t fight me on this. You’ll only lose.”

He smirked at Bulma’s stunned expression. No one had ever talked to her like that before in her life. Then she realized that she was prepared for the journey (minus the car) and they were not. They had no dragon radar, no shelter, and no way of knowing what to do with the spheres when they gathered them together. Her stunned expression was quickly replaced with an accepting smile. “I would love to join you four.”

“What?” Nappa shouted, overhearing her acceptance. “And who said you’re coming with us?”

Vegeta glared at Nappa and said, “I did.”

“I think you should reconsider. She’s weak.”

“You know, I really don’t think you should question the prince, Nappa,” Raditz stated. “Plus, this girl did manage to make her way up here alone and survive a car crash. Now just shut up and accept it.”

Bulma whispered to Vegeta, “I like Raditz and Kakarot…Goku…Nappa, not so much.”

Vegeta chuckled. “None of us do.”

“Alright, well, first we should get the Dragon Ball from your house and then make our way to the next one,” Bulma suggested.

Goku looked alarmed. “But that’s my grandpa.”

Raditz groaned slightly. “Kakarot, we’ve been over this. It BELONGED to your grandfather. It isn’t actually him.”

“Oh yeah…but I still want it back after the wish.”

“Fine Kakarot,” Vegeta replied.

* * *

Raditz went to get the Dragon Ball. He handed it to Bulma so that she could put it in her bag with the others. She started messing with the dragon radar when Nappa came up behind her and scared her.

“I don’t know what the prince sees in you, weak human female,” he said darkly, “but I swear if you double-cross us, it will be your life.”

Bulma tensed, but not because she was worried about he turning against them. Nappa just made her feel uneasy. “I wouldn’t do that to him,” she whispered. “To any of you. I’d rather the wish be made to get your planet back.” Nappa flinched, not expecting the girl’s honesty. “I think it’s better that way, don’t you?” Nappa nodded.

Vegeta walked back over to them and held his hand out for Bulma to take. “Um, yes?” she asked. Vegeta didn’t answer. He just smirked again, pulling her into his arms and taking her up in the air. “Oh my God, you can fly?” she asked in amazement.

Vegeta chuckled. “Of course we can fly. Well, with the exception of Kakarot. He’s still learning.”

“This is so cool,” Bulma said, making the prideful prince feel grateful for her words of acceptance.

“Where to?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Hm, looks like it’s due east,” Bulma answered.

Vegeta nodded and the four Saiyans took off in the direction with their new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: To anyone who wonders about the Vegeta/Goku rivalry, there really won’t be. I kind of wanted to see what it would be like to make them have a sibling-type bond. I think it’s cute :3 Anyway, the journey begins. Next chapter, they stop for the night and of course stay in a capsule house. I can promise some more awkward moments :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters.

Night fell quickly as the Saiyans flew off in the direction of the Dragon Ball. Bulma was fighting to stay awake. She had just been sitting in Vegeta’s arms the whole time. She had no idea why she was so tired while the ones who were doing the real work had so much energy left. _Well, they are aliens,_ she thought as she leaned her head against Vegeta’s chest.

Vegeta felt the slight pressure of her head against him and blushed so slightly that no one would have ever been able to see. _She’s just as beautiful as in my visions,_ he pondered as he shifted her so that she could rest more comfortably. Goku weakly flew over to Vegeta and looked down at Bulma.

“Veggie, why is she sleeping?” Goku asked.

“Because she’s tired,” Vegeta replied.

“But why? We didn’t even train.”

Vegeta shook his head. Goku was under the impression that people were only tired if they trained hard for hours, which they hadn’t done today. Humans did not have the same conditioning as Saiyans. It was an inconvenience to need sleep, being a warrior race. For Vegeta himself, he’d rather not sleep at all if he could. Although he had not spent much time with Frieza, he did spend a little bit of time with him. He knew what he was capable of and his visions didn’t help him. Speaking of, Vegeta had not had visions of Frieza since the destruction of his home, but he still had to live with what he saw. All of those memories of the visions consisted of rage, beatings, and killing. Saiyans respected life and only killed when they had to until Frieza came along. The prince wanted no part in that life, yet he still had to watch himself as a killer in the younger years of his life.

He snapped out of his thoughts to answer Goku’s question. “Humans require, on average, eight hours of sleep. They don’t have access to a lot of their ki, so they tire out quicker.”

“Oh,” Goku said. “Should we stop then?”

Nappa huffed in irritation. “Why bother? She seems fine.”

“But she looks cold,” Goku observed.

Vegeta looked down at Bulma who indeed looked a little pale. “We will have to find shelter.”

“Oh come on!” Nappa shouted, making Bulma twitch a little bit in her sleep. “I swear; women are nothing but trouble.”

Vegeta and Raditz smirked to each other. There was one vision Vegeta told Raditz about and it involved Nappa meeting someone in the not so distant future.

“We’ll see about that,” the prince said, confusing the older and youngest Saiyan. “For now, we stop for the night.”

Nappa grunted and looked away in frustration before the four of them landed. Vegeta ordered the others to look for shelter as he sat with Bulma. He brushed her hair out of her face causing her to lean into his touch and wake up.

“Wha-Huh?” she muttered sleepily. When she opened her eyes, she saw Vegeta staring down at her. “What’s going on?”

“You’re tired,” he stated. “The others are off looking for shelter.”

Bulma rubbed her eyes and sat up. “They didn’t have to go far. I have shelter with me.” Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her. “No, seriously. My dad invented these things called capsules which can store anything. I have a capsule house with me.”

Vegeta remembered hearing something about capsules, but he didn’t believe they could fit a house in them. “I don’t believe it.”

“As opposed to aliens crash landing on the planet training to fight a tyrant?” Vegeta shrugged. He knew she’d gotten him there. “Alright, I’ll show you.”

She stood up and took a capsule out of a case from her backpack. Flashing a smirk of her own to Vegeta, she turned to the clearing and threw the capsule. A house appeared out of thin air. Bulma turned back to face Vegeta who looked shocked. “That is very interesting,” he said in response.

“Told ya,” Bulma said winking at him. “But what about the others? How far did they go and how will we tell them?”

Vegeta smirked. “Watch this.” All of a sudden, Vegeta flared his ki. Bulma was in awe at the pale blue light surrounding him. She thought it was beautiful and part of her wanted to touch it. As soon as she tried, the glow disappeared. She looked at Vegeta’s expression which turned sour. “You never touch ki of someone fully powered up.”

“Why?” Bulma asked.

Vegeta sighed and created a small sphere in his hand and took hers in his other hand. “This is only a fourth of my power,” Vegeta told her, holding her hand above it, but not close enough to touch.

It felt like holding your hand above a candle. “It’s hot,” Bulma stated, understanding why Vegeta wouldn’t let her touch him. “But it’s beautiful.”

Vegeta looked taken aback at what she said. He had never thought of his power as beautiful, not after his visions. He frowned and turned away from her. The small, blue sphere disappeared. Bulma could sense his inner distress and moved to try and comfort him in some way. Before she could, the other three Saiyans had come back.

“We sensed your energy spike,” Raditz said. “What’s up?”

“See for yourself,” Vegeta replied, quickly recovering from his and Bulma’s encounter and motioning to the capsule house.

“Where did that come from?” Nappa grumbled.

“I brought it in a capsule,” Bulma answered.

“Of course you did,” Nappa muttered angrily. Vegeta shot him a look that instantly shut him up. “Is it safe?”

Bulma blanched and stared at the Saiyan in shock. “Of course it’s safe. Do you think I’d be staying in it if it weren’t? Besides, why would I offer you to stay in something that wasn’t safe? It’s just a house.”

“Don’t mind Nappa, miss,” Raditz said. “He’s just very moody.”

“I am not!” Nappa shouted making Vegeta and Raditz laugh at his outburst.

“You were saying?” Vegeta taunted. Nappa crossed his arms and shut up as they all entered the house. Bulma showed them to some of the room so they could rest as well. Nappa took one room while Raditz and Goku took the other. There was one room left and Bulma offered it to her other guest. Vegeta shook his head and told her she needed to rest comfortably, so he took the couch. Bulma had heard many of her father’s colleagues and their children say that whatever royalty they met was so selfish and arrogant. She could tell Vegeta had some arrogance, but he was far from selfish like she was.

Bulma brought him a pillow and blanket, which he didn’t need but took anyway. He closed his eyes, though he was not asleep. She left him to go get herself ready for bed, and decided to grab a quick shower.

Nappa appeared next to the couch, but Vegeta didn’t open his eyes. “What do you want, Nappa?” Vegeta asked.

“I want you to tell me why this girl is with us. We could have taken her radar and found the balls ourselves, without her. How do you know she won’t double-cross us and take that wish for herself? You heard her; she was going to wish for something selfish.”

Vegeta let out a frustrated sigh and stood up to face Nappa. “I cannot tell you how I know,” he told him, “but I know for a fact that this girl won’t betray us. I gave you direct orders, and I will give another if I feel you cannot learn to deal with the fact that she is here with us. Show her respect; she deserves it more than you know. That is a direct order and if you break it, we will have a problem. Understood?”

“Whatever,” Nappa muttered before leaving the room. He walked past Raditz who was now standing at the archway to the living area with his arms crossed.

“Let me guess, the visions?” he asked. Vegeta nodded. “Why is she so important, Vegeta?”

Vegeta blushed slightly. He did not want to tell him that she was his destined mate, so he went another way. “She is as smart as her father. She’ll create training equipment that will ultimately lead to Frieza’s destruction by our hands.”

Raditz was shocked, but impressed. He looked around the capsule house thinking that maybe she helped her father with this type of technology if she was so smart. “That’s amazing.” Vegeta nodded. Raditz observed him a few moments more and saw that he was deep in thought. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

Vegeta jumped at the question. “What are you talking about?” he asked while still blushing slightly.

“Do you like her?” Raditz asked. Vegeta jaw dropped in astonishment. How had Raditz been able to figure it out so quickly? “Do you?”

Vegeta looked away and decided to tell him the truth. “We end up together,” he explained.

Raditz nodded. He had the feeling with how the prince was acting. He wasn’t cold-hearted, but he wasn’t this kind towards any stranger, even back on Planet Vegeta. “Then I will respect her as the princess, whether she knows or not.”

Vegeta smirked. He could always count on Raditz to be there for him and he knew that he would keep his word. Nappa was questionable, but he wasn’t going to harp on that now.

Vegeta dismissed Raditz and decided to go use what humans call a bathroom. He was so distracted by his own thoughts, that he didn’t hear the water running. He went inside and saw that there was steam. He didn’t understand why, but he looked around trying to figure it out. He didn’t even hear the water turn off or hear the shower curtain open.

Bulma was shocked to see Vegeta standing in the middle of her bathroom while she was in the shower. She quickly grabbed her towel and stared at the silent prince. He didn’t seem like he was there to spy on her or take a peek at her without her knowledge. He seemed genuinely curious about the steam in the room. Bulma cleared her throat to get his attention.

Vegeta spun around quickly at the sound of her voice and couldn’t believe he had walked in on her. Visions could not have prepared him for this. Bulma was dripping wet, wrapped in a cloth Vegeta had never seen before. It looked like a really small blanket. When he realized he was staring, he couldn’t help but let his face turn red. He was sure that she thought he was staring at her, so he looked away.

“I…I didn’t know you were in here,” he told her honestly.

“I know,” Bulma replied. He slightly looked back at her, making her blush as well. “Um, I was going to come ask you when I got out if you were sure about the couch. I mean, the bed is huge, so if you wanted, we could both sleep there. That is, if you want to.” She said the last part in a whisper.

Vegeta nodded to agree to stay with her for the night, though now his resolve was a little shaken. He wanted so much to re-enact some of his visions with her at the moment, though he knew it wasn’t the time for that. She barely knew him despite the fact that he knew so much about her. He knew she would be terrified if he told her they were meant to be together as mates.

“Okay, great,” Bulma said softly. “You can go wait there for me. I’ll be there soon.”

“Very well,” Vegeta said, high-tailing it out of the bathroom. When he got to the room, he went into the bed immediately and closed his eyes, this time letting sleep take him.

Bulma entered not even fifteen minutes later and found that Vegeta was already asleep. She looked down at him before getting into the bed herself. _He’s looks so peaceful_ , she thought as she started to close her eyes. Then she felt something furry dancing on the skin of her arm and saw Vegeta’s tail, gently swaying from side to side. She couldn’t help but find him and his actions cute.

His tailed wrapped around her wrist and gently tugged her closer to him. Bulma was shocked since Vegeta was still asleep. It was almost as if the tail had a mind of its own. Vegeta didn’t even twitch when she roughly hit his body.

Bulma took the time to study him. She was a scientist, after all. It amazed her to see how much muscle he had on him. He wasn’t kidding when he said they’d been training for years. It made her worry, though, since Vegeta said they were STILL training to fight the creep that destroyed their planet. If they were this strong, how much stronger was the “tyrant” Vegeta mentioned. There were four of them against the one opponent. Did that mean together they wouldn’t be able to defeat the “lizard?” The gears in Bulma’s brain started turning immediately.

 _After we find the Dragon Balls, I’ll invite them to come stay with me and give them some training equipment,_ she told herself. _Anything to help them defeat that monster._

Bulma didn’t notice herself curling up against the Saiyan prince as she let her mind wander on equipment ideas. She left herself drift off to sleep as Vegeta’s tail wrapped protectively around her waist.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters.

“Where are we going now?” Nappa grumbled. He did not sleep well the night before, being used to the leafy mats he’d been sleeping on for years.

“The radar,” Bulma started while pointing in another direction, “says that way.”

“How do you know that piece of junk even works?” Nappa growled.

Both Vegeta and Bulma glared at him. “It found you four, didn’t it? That Dragon Ball you had was showing up, wasn’t it?”

“So tell me how a girl like you can make radars like this?”

“Because she’s a genius,” Vegeta stated, getting irritated with Nappa.

“Um, how do you know that?” Bulma asked meekly, not sure how he knew what she was going to say.

Vegeta tensed, noticing his slip of the tongue. He decided to save face a bit and said, “It’s obvious by the radar and the house you had that you are exposed to technology.” It was a pathetic excuse, he knew, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to call attention to his visions anytime soon.

Bulma didn’t buy it, but she didn’t question him. “Well, thank you,” she replied. “I can tell you’re not the kind to give compliments out so freely, so I appreciate it.”

Vegeta forced himself not to blush at the smile she flashed him and responded with a “hn.”

“So we’re heading out to the ocean,” Raditz stated, as he remembered flying over the sea looking for the prince one time.

“I guess so,” Bulma replied. “I haven’t really been this far away from home before.”

“So your parents are okay with you being out here?” Nappa asked with a quirked brow.

“Um,” Bulma said nervously. The truth was that her parents never wanted her to go, so she left without telling them. Despite feeling comfortable around everyone but Nappa, she didn’t feel safe enough to tell them the truth. “Well, they weren’t happy about it, but they said as long as I check in, they won’t send someone out looking for me. I probably should do that now, actually. Excuse me.”

Bulma took out her phone for effect and went behind some trees. She sighed, looking at her phone, waiting for enough time to pass before she would go back.

“You don’t have to lie, especially to me,” Vegeta told her, appearing in the branches above her.

Bulma nearly shrieked, but quickly calmed herself down. She wasn’t expecting to see him above her. “Vegeta, don’t do that. You nearly gave me a heart attack.” Vegeta smirked before slightly moving, appearing right next to her and catching her before she fell over from surprise. Bulma blushed at the fact that her back was pressed against Vegeta. “Vegeta?”

“Your parents do not know where you are,” Vegeta stated matter-of-factly. “You just took your supplies and left.”

“I…Please don’t say anything,” Bulma pleaded.

Vegeta frowned. “You’re afraid of us.”

He sounded so sad, Bulma noted, but she didn’t know why. Well, she did, but they were all strangers that she had just met. Wouldn’t he have trust issues with her? Nappa did already.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Bulma told him honestly. “It’s just that we only met yesterday.”

Vegeta’s frown didn’t leave his face as he walked away from her. Bulma watched him walk off, highly confused by his reaction. She walked back over to the group and asked if they were ready to go. Goku cheered about how they were going on an adventure. Nappa looked over to the prince who just nodded at the girl. He looked over to Raditz questioningly. The other Saiyan just shrugged and went back to watching his little brother who was practicing his flying a little bit more before they continued. At the rate he was going, Raditz would have to carry his little brother himself.

“Kakarot, knock it off. You’ll wear yourself out.”

“Aw, but Raditz, I think I’m getting the hang of it,” Goku replied, before falling two feet to the ground.

“You were saying?” Raditz muttered pinching the bridge of his nose.

While Raditz dealt with Goku, Vegeta picked Bulma silently and took off into the sky. The trip was quiet. None of the Saiyans attempted to make conversation and Bulma couldn’t stand the silence. She looked up at Vegeta who wasn’t even paying her any mind. It was almost as if he was giving her the silent treatment.

“Vegeta, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Bulma whispered. “What did I say wrong?”

Vegeta shook his head and that was all she got out of him. Bulma sighed. She had said something that hurt him. What she had said wasn’t a lie. They were strangers in a way. Then it hit Bulma. Vegeta seemed to know her better than she knew him. It was strange since he didn’t have any knowledge of her technology other than her car, which he knew was going to explode. It seemed that Vegeta had a knack for knowing what was going to happen before it did, more than a talent at “reading people.” But that was impossible; wasn’t it?

“Vegeta, what else do you know about me?” she asked him, the other Saiyans looking over to the two.

Vegeta stared down at her with an expressionless face. “We are strangers,” he stated with a forced voice. “ _We only met yesterday_.”

Bulma didn’t know why her own words hurt so much but they did and she could now understand how much she hurt the Saiyan prince. “Right,” she mumbled, not knowing what else to say.

Vegeta could hear the disappointment in her voice, but didn’t say anything. He knew what she said was true, but it was hard for him. He was used to seeing her when he dreamt. He constantly thought of her while awake. It was hard for him to accept that she was not his mate yet and probably wouldn’t be for a while.

“Hey guys, look,” Goku said pointing down to a turtle on its back.

“Kakarot, it’s just a turtle,” Raditz stated.

“But it’s in trouble,” Goku said adamantly. “We need to help him.”

Vegeta sighed in frustration. “Fine, let’s go help the turtle,” he muttered.

“Yay!” Goku said, charging over to the prince and landing on his back. “Thank you, Veggie.”

Vegeta smirked. “No problem, kid.”

After they righted the turtle, it surprised them by speaking to them and explained that he lost his way to the sea.

“Hey, we’re going to the sea,” Goku said. “Maybe we can help you get there.”

“Thank you,” the turtle said. “I need to get to my master.”

“This is so weird,” Bulma said quietly. She caught Vegeta’s eye before he looked away from her. He still hadn’t said much to her since the flight. Bulma actually felt hurt by his dismissal of her presence.

“I guess I’m carrying the reptile,” Nappa said, “since you’re carrying the girl and Raditz has to focus on Kakarot. Unless you decide to leave the girl here. I’m all for that option.”

Bulma was about to retort, but Vegeta marched up to Nappa and just glared at him. It was a silent reminder of his orders from the previous night, but the message was lost on Bulma who just went over to when Raditz and Goku were.

“My name’s Goku,” the little boy said to the turtle. “And this is my big brother, Raditz.”

“Nice to meet you all,” the turtle said happily.

“We should get going now, since we have our own errands to run as well,” Raditz stated.

“Okay!” Goku chimed happily climbing onto his big brother.

Nappa rolled his eyes and picked up the turtle. Vegeta walked over to Bulma and picked her up. His face remained expressionless and intense. Bulma was starting to feel more nervous about this.

* * *

When they got to the beach, the turtle told them to wait for him. The elder Saiyans reluctantly agreed, but Goku was so excited when the turtle said that he would bring his master back to meet him.

While the turtle was away, Bulma touched Vegeta’s shoulder silently asking if they could talk. Vegeta nodded to her and the two of them walked further away from the group.

“Yes?” Vegeta asked monotonously.

“What’s wrong, Vegeta?” Bulma questioned. “You’ve been ignoring me all day. I only spoke the truth. I don’t know you, but it feels like you know me. Please, tell me what’s going on. Like you said, I’m open-minded and I’m sure I’ll believe you. Please just tell me why it hurt you so much when I said we were strangers.”

Vegeta turned away from her. “It’s nothing, Bulma. You didn’t ask to meet us, so whatever you want, fine. If you want to hide stuff from us, I don’t care. If you don’t trust us and fear us, that’s your problem.”

“I don’t fear you!” Bulma shouted at him. She knew she told him this before. “I trust you, okay. I just don’t trust Nappa and I’m unsure of Raditz. Goku is a little kid, but he could still snap me like a twig. Do you know how troubling that is? To be around strangers who could kill you in an instant?”

“Then why did you accept my invitation?” Vegeta snapped.

“Because I wanted to!” Bulma retorted. Both Bulma and Vegeta stared at one another in anger. Bulma’s expression softened though when she saw hurt and confusion in Vegeta’s eyes.

“‘Wanted’ implies that you don’t want to anymore,” Vegeta said calmly. “If that is the case then just leave.” He wouldn’t let her know that every word he was saying was killing him.

Vegeta turned and started to walk away from her and whatever his visions had been telling him. “Wait!” Bulma exclaimed grabbing his arm. Vegeta stared down at her void of all emotion. “I never said I wanted to leave.”

“Well you clearly don’t want to stay,” Vegeta stated shaking her off of him.

Bulma didn’t understand. This stern man couldn’t be the same guy she met the day before who was so kind and genuinely curious about Earth’s comforts. He definitely wasn’t acting like the same guy whose tail grabbed onto her last night. Oh, she had forgotten to ask him about that.

“I have a question,” Bulma said trying to change the subject. Vegeta said nothing but let her go on. “Last night your tail seemed to be moving on its own and took hold of me. I didn’t know how that was possible since you were asleep.”

Vegeta’s expression became sad again and Bulma realized that his cold attitude towards her had to be some kind of defense mechanism. He turned away from her and started to walk away. “Vegeta?”

“Tell the others I will be back soon,” he stated before flying off.

Bulma was at a loss for what had happened, but she decided to do what he asked. When she got back to the others, there was an old man giving Goku a small cloud and giving a Dragon Ball over to Raditz. Raditz and Nappa looked over to Bulma and saw that Vegeta was not with her.

“Where’d that brat run off to this time?” Nappa asked trying to hide his concern.

“He said he’d be back soon,” Bulma replied. “I just don’t get it. One minute we’re arguing, the next I’m asking him why his tail curled around me last night, then he gets upset and flies off.”

Both Nappa and Raditz gasped. Bulma wasn’t sure why they reacted that way. Then Raditz asked, “What were you two arguing about?”

“Just how we’re strangers and you guys make me nervous.”

Raditz frowned and shook his head. He turned to Nappa. “I’ll go talk to him.” Then he flew off.

Bulma looked over to Nappa who was studying her. “What?” she snapped.

“Nothing,” he replied. “Just…do me a favor. Try not to say anything like that to Vegeta again, whether it’s true or not.”

“Why?” Bulma asked. “What the hell is going on?”

Nappa sighed. “You’re his destined mate.”

* * *

Raditz found Vegeta sulking atop a mountain. He landed next to the prince who was looking out to the sunset. “I’m not going to talk about it,” Vegeta stated leaving no room for debate.

“That’s fine,” Raditz said sitting down next to Vegeta. “But you should tell her about the visions or she’ll keep hurting you, even if it’s by accident.”

“I don’t care,” Vegeta admitted.

“You will if she keeps rejecting you. What happens if she leaves and never comes back, or finds someone else? Are you prepared to deal with that pain?”

“I’m handling it now, aren’t I?” Vegeta snapped.

Raditz stood up. “Look, I’m not going to force you to do anything, but I’d really rather not see you let yourself be destroyed by this matter. I have always seen you as my family and I would hate to see you hurt yourself more.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll be joining you again later tonight. Just go back.”

“As you wish.” And with that, Raditz left the prince alone.

* * *

Bulma had set up the capsule house again for the night. She was waiting up for Vegeta after everyone fell asleep. She would have never guessed any of this and yet it still made little sense to her.

_“But we just met!” she shouted at Nappa._

_“That doesn’t matter to a Saiyan,” he told her. “Our bonds are different from a human’s. We are connected with our mate since birth, or at least that is how we are taught. When we meet them, our bodies react on their own, case and point Vegeta’s tail. Since we don’t usually know to begin with who our mates are, something has to tell us. And now you’ve said something that the prince has taken as a rejection. When a Saiyan is rejected by their mate…let’s just say, it doesn’t end very well for them. I can tell you now, he’s going to try to push you away and that’s not good either. Eventually it will lead to depression and possibly death.”_

_Bulma gasped. “Why?”_

_“Because being rejected by one’s mate is an attack against a Saiyan’s pride, so they attempt to redeem that pride by acting like it doesn’t matter. But by continuously distancing oneself from their mate is like losing said mate. Saiyans who have met their mates or have become mated cannot live without their mate, at least not for long.”_

_Raditz returned after Nappa explained everything to Bulma. “Raditz, where’s Veggie?” Goku asked._

_Raditz shrugged. “He’s just getting some air. He won’t be back until late tonight.” He looked over to Bulma with a frown. Walking past her, he whispered, “If I were you, I’d wait up tonight.”_

And so she had, asking herself a series of questions. Why hadn’t Vegeta told her the truth? Well, she had rejected him, so he was saving face. How could she, a human, be his mate? Well, there weren’t any other female Saiyans, so if not her, did that mean that Vegeta would have ended up alone? The question made her feel guilty. Sure he had Nappa, Raditz, and Goku, but he had lost his entire family. He probably felt like he was alone already. Then she showed up and he seemed playful…happy even. And now she had to hurt him. Then the last question flashed through her mind. Where the hell was he?

She was answered with the door opening and closing. She saw him enter, but he didn’t seem to see her. He looked like he was a zombie. Then Bulma noticed the cuts and bruises. Just what had he been doing out there? This couldn’t have been the way he trained, could it? The thought made Bulma’s heart clench.

“Vegeta?” she called out, but he didn’t respond. She was about to say his name again when he passed out. “Vegeta!” she shouted, waking up the other Saiyans.

Nappa let out an irritated growl. “Such an idiot. It looks like he forgot to eat again.”

Bulma looked at him in shock. All he could think about was the food? What about the cuts? Vegeta had to be prone to infection just like everyone else and yet they didn’t seem fazed.

Raditz noticed Bulma’s look of confusion mixed with disgust. “Saiyans heal differently from humans, Bulma. He’s fine, but if he didn’t eat or drink anything after putting himself through some training, he just drained himself of energy. He should be fine by morning.”

“Well, alright then,” she said still unsure. “Can someone help me get him to the bed?”

“I will,” Nappa decided picking Vegeta off the floor. He followed Bulma to her room and gently put Vegeta down and left.

* * *

Bulma didn’t care what they said about his injuries. They had to have been downplaying it to keep what was left of their prince’s pride intact. To Bulma, being hurt didn’t mean you were weak like the Saiyans seemed to think. She took out the first aid kit and started cleaning Vegeta’s cuts. She didn’t notice Vegeta’s eyes crack open.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice so distrusting.

It took Bulma by surprise. Out of nowhere, Vegeta was acting frightened. It’s not like she would hurt him, or could hurt him. Maybe being vulnerable for a Saiyan meant punishment or something, she didn’t know. “I’m just cleaning out your cuts so they don’t get infected.”

“Just go away,” Vegeta said in a hoarse voice, again taking Bulma by surprise.

“I’m not just going to leave you hurt,” she told him.

Vegeta shook his head. “Please get away from me,” he pleaded. “I can’t bear it.”

Now he was talking as if he were delirious. “What can’t you bear? I mean, you’re the strongest guy I know. This couldn’t have hurt you this badly.”

Vegeta closed his eyes. “I need for you to stay away from me.”

Bulma tensed. Nappa had warned her about this. He wanted to push her away, but she refused to let that happen. Still, she didn’t know if she could feel the same way, either. Would she just be hurting him in the long run? She didn’t want to think about that now. Instead, Bulma kissed his forehead and said, “Not gonna happen.”

She got up to throw something away but heard Vegeta whisper out loud in his delirious state, “Just like my vision.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Uh-oh…Vegeta just blurted out his secret. How will Bulma react to that?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

Bulma blinked a few times to register what Vegeta had said. “Visions?” she repeated. Vegeta just grumbled as he started to lose consciousness again. Bulma rushed over to him attempting to hold him up. “Vegeta,” she said desperately. “What do you mean by ‘visions?’”

Vegeta muffled a yawn and turned over. “I can’t tell you. Bardock said that I had to pretend like everything is fine. I’m a prince. I can’t let something like that bother me.”

“Vegeta,” Bulma tried again. “You can tell me about the visions. I won’t tell anyone. I swear.”

Vegeta made a sound as if he were considering it and then said, “Fine, but you can’t tell Nappa, Kakarot, or Bulma, Raditz.”

Bulma blinked incredulously. He thought she was Raditz. But before he acted like she were her. He even told her to leave him alone. _Oh my Kami, he’s hallucinating._ The guilt consumed Bulma as she weakly said, “Okay, Vegeta. I swear I won’t tell them.”

Vegeta nodded into the pillow. “I’ve been having visions of her since I was twelve, Raditz. I know I should have told you. I know your dad told you the visions would replay themselves over and over until they drove someone mad. It wasn’t that way with her. I found myself growing comfortable with the visions, our lives together. I can’t stand the fact that she doesn’t know me…she…she hates me, Raditz. I can’t stand it.”

“H-Have you tried to talk to her about this?” Bulma asked. “I mean, why haven’t you told her about the visions?”

Vegeta chuckled. “Your father said not to tell anyone. You are the only one that will know until the day I die. Which…could be soon. I don’t know. I mean, she doesn’t want to be here.”

“How do you know that?” Bulma pressed. She knew he had said it earlier, but she wanted to hear what he was truly thinking.

“She fears our strength,” Vegeta said. “She’s afraid that we would hurt her. How could she want to be with someone she fears? That the whole universe fears.”

“The whole universe doesn’t even know you,” Bulma told him. “How would they fear you?”

“They don’t,” Vegeta admitted, “but had Frieza taken me, they would have. Raditz, I had to see myself take life just for the sake of taking life. There was no honor in the fight. Frieza had me purging planets since I was six. I would have been the most feared killer in the universe and I have to live with those visions for the rest of my existence. Just because I didn’t become a killer…I’m a terrible person because I would have done all of that.”

Bulma had tears streaming down her face. Vegeta, he was so kind, so innocent in a way, yet he was so tainted by images and hurt by a perceived rejection. She couldn’t believe any of this.

“Vegeta, will you consider telling her about the visions?” Bulma asked.

Vegeta chuckled again. “Why are you being so adamant today, Raditz? Earlier you said you wouldn’t push me. Do you think that just because I’m in this weakened state that I will concede? She is not my mate. She does not wish to be my mate. We are strangers and that’s how it should stay. Besides, she doesn’t belong with me. She belongs with some human, one that can’t hurt her. If that will make her happy, then I will step aside.”

“But you’ll die,” Bulma said, her voice growing weak.

Vegeta grunted an affirmative. “Not until I defeat Frieza. My drive for revenge on that monster will keep me alive. Then, once he’s dead, I will happily go to the grave. It’s not like I have anything to live for. The planet, my parents…gone. Even if we can wish the planet back, I doubt we can get all of those people back. Kakarot loves it here. You could make a life here. And I already told you about that vision with Nappa. I think we should just give the girl her wish and then bow out. Her happiness is what matters now, not mine.”

Bulma was struggling to breathe. She had to get away from him. Bulma got up from the bed and left the room. Nappa was waiting outside her door and she crashed into him. Raditz was standing beside him.

“I never would have guessed,” Nappa said to Raditz, ignoring that Bulma crashed into him.

“Now do you see what he’s been dealing with?” Raditz asked the eldest Saiyan. Nappa sighed and nodded. He took his hand and rubbed his head to distract himself from his confusion and worry.

“Well, at least we know he would have admitted it to you, third-class.” The insult held a lot less venom and was said more as a term of endearment.

Nappa walked back to the room where he was staying and slammed the door shut. Raditz looked down to Bulma who had tears streaming down her face. “What happens next is up to you,” he told her. “But I’m telling you, if you hurt him, I don’t care if he wants your happiness. I see him as my brother, and as his guard I’m bound to protect him. I will kill you if he has another night like this.”

Bulma was shocked at how Raditz reacted, but she could understand now. It didn’t help her fear of being snapped like a twig, but she would overlook it. Vegeta said her happiness was all that mattered. No…Vegeta’s happiness was all that mattered, at least to her.

* * *

Vegeta woke up and kept his hand over his eyes. He slowly squinted into the light that made his eyes water a bit. When his eyes adjusted, he fully opened them and was surprised to see Bulma curled up beside him. He had no idea when she came into the room. He vaguely remembered talking to Raditz after he nearly killed himself. He was so lost in thought trying to remember what he said during the night and didn’t see Bulma eyeing his pondering form.

She studied him for a little bit. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his hand to his chin. He was very refined yet very guarded. Bulma could see how handsome he was, but she didn’t know him and she was afraid to give him hope if she would only end up breaking his heart. But then again, she already was. And he did say that in his visions, they did become mates. Maybe she could meet him halfway for now. It’s not like they had to be in a serious relationship, but they could start out slow. Then, maybe, just maybe, she would be able to love him the way he needed.

She looked up to his eyes, but they were now very distant and very pale. _Is he having a vision now?_ she wondered as the color returned to his eyes. He looked so hurt by whatever he saw and he started breathing heavily as if he were about to have an emotional breakdown.

Meanwhile, the thoughts going through Vegeta’s head were painful for him. He had seen Bulma with another before him. He recognized the character from the group that was going to be centered around little Goku. It angered him that his visions would show her as his mate and then inform him of a long-term relationship years later. He didn’t know if he could or should try to change that vision, or let it slowly kill him until he faced Frieza. That reminded him; he would still have visions of the tyrant, but not about their battle. It worried him. _Too many things to worry about_ , he told himself and shook his head. He barely registered Bulma’s hand on his shoulder. He gasped and then looked down to her. Her eyes were shining with worry, and Vegeta scoffed and attempted to pull away from her. He couldn’t move.

He looked back down at her incredulously. She was grasping onto his arm for dear life, her grip surprisingly strong. And now she had tears streaming down her face.

Bulma knew, after pretending to be Raditz, that she couldn’t tell him that she knew he had visions. She decided to go a different route. “How could you do this to yourself?” she sobbed. “Do you know how worried I was?”

Vegeta was a little shocked that she was so upset about his appearance. It shouldn’t matter to her. It still touched him that she did act like she cared but, as Nappa predicted, he was going to push her away. “Hn. Did the others seem worried?” he scoffed.

“Well, they said you would be fine, but-“ Vegeta cut her off.

“Then you had no reason to be worried about me,” he told her. “If the three Saiyans who have been around me for years didn’t see any reason to be concerned, then a _stranger_ shouldn’t worry about me either. No one needs to worry about me. Now let go!”

“No,” Bulma replied challengingly. “I am not letting you go, Vegeta. You need to rest today, no flying and no training.”

Vegeta forcibly yanked his arm away from Bulma, nearly knocking her over. Bulma looked up to Vegeta in sadness. He took it as a look of pity and glared at her. He let out an animalistic growl and then disappeared from the room. Bulma just stared at where he used to be in shock. He wasn’t acting like he was trying to push her away. Vegeta was acting like he hated her.

* * *

Bulma got dressed and then went outside of the capsule house only to see that the Saiyans had already gone out. She closed the house back up and then turned to face the Saiyans. They all had serious expressions plastered on their faces, except for Goku who was chattering excitedly about the new day. Bulma was surprised when she saw Vegeta pick up the small boy. He looked expressionless on the outside, but she could see the sadness in his eyes. She could tell Nappa was telling the truth. Vegeta already looked lifeless.

Raditz walked over to Bulma and held his hand out to her. Bulma was very wary to take it. She looked over to Vegeta who narrowed his eyes at her and started to levitate. Bulma sighed and reluctantly took Raditz’s hand.

“Where are we going, girl?” Vegeta sneered.

Goku frowned when he heard Vegeta’s voice. It sounded like his brother was in pain. “Veggie, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Kakarot,” he said a little nicer. He didn’t want to worry the boy. Kakarot twisted in Vegeta’s arms and forced a hug upon the older Saiyan. Vegeta’s eyes widened and he stopped flying, hovering in the air.

“Don’t be sad, Veggie,” Kakarot said. “Whatever you’re upset about will be okay.”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Vegeta’s face as he hugged the little boy back. “I know, kid,” he said a little humorously.

Raditz looked down to Bulma who looked like she was going to burst into tears. He could see the longing in her eyes and he realized that the prince was not the only one who was hurting. If he kept pushing her away, she would find another just to try to quench the hurt. Raditz had observed humans a little bit when they first came to the planet and he did learn about their behaviors. She didn’t have to love whoever she ended up with. She would just need someone to reassure her that she had worth, something the prince needed as well. Raditz shook his head. The two teens were breaking, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

All of a sudden, Vegeta turned to face Bulma and Raditz felt her pulse speed up. “Where are we going?” Vegeta asked in a softer tone.

Bulma hesitated to look away from him to the dragon radar. She was afraid that if she looked down, he would disappear. Vegeta picked up on her fear, but he didn’t understand it. He knew it wasn’t being directed to him, but what else was there. Was it because she was with Raditz and not him? “We need to head north,” Bulma told him. His eyes widened for a split second. She sounded as sad as he felt, though he knew how to hide it.

“Then let’s go,” Vegeta stated before turning away from her.

The Saiyans picked their speed back up and continued fly for a while. Raditz could feel the tension between them and tried to come up with a plan to get Vegeta to drop his guard. Then Raditz whispered in Bulma’s ear. “From now on, call him Prince Vegeta when addressing him. Trust me; that’ll get to him.”

Before Bulma could ask why, the radar went crazy. Everyone looked down and saw a village. “Well, that’s as good a place as any to start,” Nappa tried to joke.

“Let’s check it out,” Raditz suggested. Vegeta only nodded.

* * *

When they landed in the village, they startled some of the villagers.

“Oh no,” one of the townspeople cried, “Oolong the Terrible has called for backup!”

“Who?” Bulma tried to ask.

The townspeople were two busy freaking out and, in that moment, Vegeta was starting to have an anxiety attack. It reminded him of the visions he had of Frieza’s plans for him. Bulma was the only one that seemed to notice Vegeta’s defensive position. She, of course, went over to him and took his hand.

“Are you okay?” Bulma asked.

“Fine,” Vegeta lied. Bulma frowned because his voice sounded hoarse.

“Who is Oolong the Terrible?” Goku asked, bringing some old woman’s attention to him.

“He is a terrible demon who kidnaps young women and forces them to clean his home,” the old woman told them. “He has also been trying to force a young girl in the village to marry him.”

“That’s…disturbing,” Bulma said barely containing her disgust. Just then, Bulma noticed the Dragon Ball hanging around the woman’s neck. “Oh, hey, you have a Dragon Ball!”

The woman looked confused. “A what?”

Bulma took out one of the spheres from her backpack. “A Dragon Ball. We’re collecting them.”

The woman flashed her a smile. “I would give you mine, but this treasure has been passed down in my family for generations. I’m sorry, miss.”

Bulma didn’t know how to respond to that, but Vegeta had an idea. “What if we were to get rid of this ‘demon’ of yours? Would you consider giving us the ball then?”

The woman put her hand to her chin in thought before she nodded. “Knock yourself out, but Oolong the Terrible is very strong.”

“I highly doubt that,” Nappa muttered. “Where can we find him?”

“Well, he frequents little Pochawompa’s home,” the old woman said shaking her head. “Such a shame. She’s the little girl he wants.”

“Why does he want her?” Goku asked innocently.

The elderly woman patted his head. “Such a sweet little boy. You should be very careful.”

Goku smiled at her. “Oh, you don’t need to worry. I can handle anything.” Raditz and Vegeta couldn’t help but smirk at the little one’s pride. Goku turned to them. “Let’s go see the monster. I wanna fight it.”

Vegeta chuckled. “Fine, Kakarot. I have the feeling you’ll be more than enough to take out this ‘demon.’”

* * *

Bulma followed the four Saiyans to the little girl’s house and the demon was already there. He was the stereotypical red demon with horns. _Really?_ Bulma asked herself. She was a little frightened when Goku went to fight him, but she realized that her worries were pointless when Goku came out to be the victor. The biggest surprise was that the demon turned into a pig.

“Damn it, if only I could have held that form,” he grumbled.

Raditz and Nappa couldn’t help but laugh at the predicament. Vegeta rolled his eyes at their antics. He looked to Goku who was searching for the monster he had just defeated. Goku looked over to Vegeta with confused eyes. “I didn’t mean to make the monster go away,” he said.

Vegeta just looked down to the pig who was muttering some stuff about being a shapeshifter. He ignored the part where Bulma had invited the pig to come on their journey because of his shapeshiting abilities. Vegeta didn’t care either way, but Nappa was protesting because he didn’t want to carry the “annoyingly chatty piece of bacon.”

“Just do it, Nappa!” Vegeta snapped. All he was thinking about now was getting the Dragon Ball from the old woman and moving on.

The older woman was very grateful and didn’t mind handing the Dragon Ball over to little Goku.

“Thank you, ma’am,” Goku said happily.

Bulma whispered over to Raditz, “I hope that means he knows the difference between guys and girls now?”

Raditz couldn’t help but chuckle. “We can only hope.”

* * *

“Why am I going with you again?” Oolong muttered as the Saiyans took off.

“We could always bring you back to the village so that they could choose your punishment,” Vegeta stated without any emotion as he carried Goku. Oolong huffed and crossed his arms, but said nothing. “That’s what I thought.”

“So where are we headed?” Nappa asked Bulma. He seemed to have warmed up to her ever since he found out about what she was to Vegeta.

Bulma checked the radar. “Further north.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute!” Oolong exclaimed. “You want to go into Diablo Desert? That’s crazy!”

“Why?” Raditz asked, narrowing his eyes at the pig.

Oolong sighed. “Man, you guys definitely aren’t from around here. That’s where Yamcha the Desert Bandit is said to hang out.” Raditz and Nappa shrugged, yet were unaware to the panicked expression on their prince’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Okay, sorry that was so different from the show, but I’m pretty much just skipping around the Dragon Ball series (because we all want to get to the Martial Arts Tournaments and then after :D Or is that just me?). I’m sure everyone could tell who will be appearing next chapter…great…


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters.

Vegeta was panicking on the inside, though he reigned in his expression so that the others wouldn’t know. He hadn’t expected the guy named Yamcha to come into their lives so soon. He felt like he was minutes away from losing Bulma, especially after the way he had been treating her since the day before, and he didn’t know what to do about it. His pride wouldn’t let him act otherwise.

He didn’t realize that his energy was fluctuating slightly, but Nappa and Raditz could feel it. They looked to each other nervously. If their prince was worried about something in the desert, then they had to worry.

“Maybe we should wait a night before we enter the desert,” Nappa suggested, speaking loudly over the sound of the wind.

Vegeta felt relief at such a suggestion. If he took Nappa up on that offer, he’d be able to give himself another night to emotionally prepare himself. But of course, he felt the need to play it off. “What’s wrong? Can’t handle a little heat?”

Nappa sighed and said, “Maybe I’m just getting older, prince.”

“Well, then, maybe we should stop for the night,” Vegeta agreed, happy his trainer didn’t call him out on his attitude. “Any complaints?”

“I’ve got none,” Oolong replied. “But where are we gonna go?”

“So are we landing now?” Bulma asked with a yawn.

Vegeta looked over to the girl currently in Raditz’s arms and frowned. She looked completely exhausted. It solidified his decision to stop for the day. He may have had selfish motives for delaying their journey for a few hours, but Bulma truly needed the rest. “Yes, we are,” he confirmed before starting to descend. Raditz and Nappa followed suit, and when they landed, placed down the passengers they were carrying.

Bulma took out her capsule house and threw it down so that they could go inside. Oolong looked at the small house in amazement. He decided not to ask questions when he met the glare of the Saiyan prince. Part of him was wondering what they guy’s problem was. He didn’t seem like the friendliest person to deal with.

* * *

Everyone went inside and rooms were divided up again, only this time Vegeta opted to take the couch making Bulma frown. Oolong, their newest addition, was going to sleep on the floor somewhere in a sleeping bag. When it was dinner time, everyone ate in silence except for Goku, who was chatting everyone’s ear off. He would just be answered by the occasional grunt from one of the three other Saiyans. Bulma stayed strangely silent and watched Vegeta through the corner of her eyes as she ate.

Vegeta was barely eating, just enough to settle his hunger but nothing more than that. He excused himself by pushing his plate away from him and moved to the living area couch. Bulma’s expression saddened and she found that she herself had no appetite. She cleaned her mouth off with her napkin and pushed her dish away before getting up and making her way over to Vegeta.

Raditz and Nappa watched both teenagers cautiously and in interest. They had no idea what Bulma would be able to do, with how Vegeta had been acting, so they just wanted to observe. Their attention was drawn elsewhere, though, to the youngest Saiyan among them.

“I can’t wait to see the dragon and make our wish,” Goku said happily catching Oolong’s attention in addition to his older brother and Nappa.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa…what are you talking about kid?” the pig asked.

“Oh, well we’re looking for the Dragon Balls to wish our planet back,” Goku replied with a grin. His tail was swaying back and forth vigorously. “I can’t wait to see it. It would be an adventure.”

Raditz looked over to his brother in alarm. “Kakarot, enough!” he snapped.

Goku looked up at his older brother and tilted his head in confusion. “What did I do?”

Raditz sighed and muttered a “nothing.” He couldn’t be angry with his naïve little brother, but now the pig had knowledge of what they were doing. Oolong was no doubt a thug and would take every advantage he could to get an easy life. Stealing Dragon Balls was not above him. “Just go wash up.”

“Okay!” Goku chimed with enthusiasm before running off to the bathroom.

“Hm, easy kid,” Oolong pondered. “Your parents must be relieved.”

Raditz’s eyes narrowed at the pig. “Get one thing straight…never, and I mean NEVER, mention our parents again.”

With that, Raditz stormed off to find his little brother, his one reminder of the family they had lost. Oolong looked over to Nappa who continued to eat as if nothing had happened. “What did I say? They have a bad relationship with their parents?”

Nappa stopped eating long enough to say, “No,” and then continued to eat, ignoring Oolong’s confused expression and forcing himself not to think about their lost home.

* * *

Bulma, oblivious to the exchange in the kitchen, sat down next to Vegeta. He was staring straight ahead and didn’t even acknowledge that she had sat down beside him. Somehow, though, Bulma could tell that he wasn’t ignoring her. His eyes seemed distant, like he was having another vision. By the frown on his face, she could tell that it was something terrible and she wanted to bring him out of it. She raised her hand nervously and stroked his hair slowly.

Vegeta jumped at the sudden contact. He had never been pulled out of his trance before, mostly because whenever he had a vision, he would go off alone to ponder the vision’s significance. He turned to find who had pulled him away from yet another painful vision of Frieza and the fate of his planet. The creep was still looking for him and would stop at nothing to find him. Although he was much stronger than he would have been as a child, Vegeta still had no desire to set foot on the tyrant’s ship even if his life depended on it. He was surprised when he saw that Bulma had pulled him away from the torment of his mind. “W-what are you doing?” Vegeta asked, still in a type of shock from being pulled out of a vision before it ended.

Bulma retracted her hand and blushed. “It’s just that…well, you seemed troubled and I wanted to help,” she explained, though completely kept the topic of her knowing about his visions secret. “Whatever is bothering you, you can talk to me.”

Vegeta’s expression soured, and he crossed his arms and looked away from her. “You wouldn’t understand. You couldn’t handle the truth about me.”

“Try me.”

Vegeta looked back over to Bulma to tell her she was wrong, but what he saw stopped him and made his breath hitch. She looked…determined…her eyes flashing with misplaced acceptance, at least in his mind. There was no way some innocent Earthling would be able to understand the evils that he would have brought upon the universe. He needed to close his eyes tightly to prevent himself from seeing the horrid images again.

“Vegeta, look at me,” Bulma said with slight frustration, but the Saiyan was playing stubborn and just shook his head. “Okay, fine, don’t look at me, but come to bed. Now.”

“No,” Vegeta growled out.

“You are acting like such a little kid right now,” Bulma huffed.

At that, Vegeta’s eyes shot open, rage filling them. “So what? I never got the chance to before!”

Silence rang out in the room with Bulma just staring at Vegeta in shock from his outburst, and Vegeta realizing what he said. He closed his eyes in acceptance of what he had just admitted and said, “Just go to bed and leave me alone.”

“Vegeta, we can talk about this and-“

“What is with Earthlings and their precious desire to talk?” he shouted standing up from his spot. “Raditz and Nappa never force me to talk. Kakarot always wants to talk about this stuff…now you. Just, why can’t the topic just be dropped?”

Bulma couldn’t believe that he was ranting about not wanting to talk when he was clearly trying to talk about it. She just sat in silence and let him continue. “Raditz tried to get me to talk once, but he accepted that he could never understand what I have to deal with. No one has any idea what that tyrant would have done. I should have never left when Bardock and I found out that lizard was coming to take me away. Maybe if I hadn’t gone, the planet…”

“Don’t do that to yourself!” Bulma snapped. She couldn’t take it anymore. Why was he blaming himself for things he didn’t have control over? “It is NOT your fault that any of this happened. There are just things in the universe that can’t be explained. Hell, even with science and the stuff my father has invented, we still can’t explain why people do what they do or what problems the universe holds. My father and I are probably the only ones with a firm belief in aliens let alone an understanding. Now, I don’t know this Frieza guy, but I can tell he was terrible. You going with him would have served no purpose. You would have been hurt.”

Vegeta’s eyes widened, and he slowly turned to her. “How do you know his name?” he asked. Bulma’s eyes widened when she realized her own mistake. “I have never once said his name around you. Believe me; I would have remembered that. How did you know?”

“I…” Bulma started. She didn’t want to explain how she found out about his visions just yet. He could possibly shut down on her again and she didn’t want that. She couldn’t bear to see him hurt. “You mumbled his name the other night when we were sharing the room. I just assumed…I’m sorry.”

Vegeta released an aggravated sigh. “Never mind; it’s not important. Just leave me alone.”

“Not until you actually come to bed,” Bulma retorted, standing up and placing her hands on her hips.

“Then we have reached an impasse,” Vegeta growled sitting back down on the couch, sulking.

Bulma sat back down next to him and picked up a remote and turned the television on. She cringed when Vegeta jumped up and shouted. “What kind of trickery is this?” he exclaimed in a panic. “Why do you have a communication unit? Are you telling someone about us?”

“Communication what?” Bulma asked, stunned. “Vegeta, it’s just a T.V. Um, it’s a device that allows people to watch shows, mostly fictional, but also to check the news and weather. It’s how we get our information on a daily basis. It’s not like a two way communication device. That would be like telephones or walkie-talkies, oh, and computers…but not a T.V.”

Vegeta calmed down a little bit after that, but he still felt awkward with this television being on. He watched some type of fake, violent, Earthling program and had to force himself not to scoff at the unrefined movements. He glanced over to Bulma and was taken aback when he found her staring right back at him so intensely.

“Vegeta, why are you so paranoid…to think I would be communicating about your personal business with anyone?” Bulma asked him.

“I am NOT paranoid,” Vegeta said in frustration.

“Really?” Bulma asked sarcastically. “Because last time I checked, you were able to trust me with your story and now you’re freaking out because you think I’ve somehow gotten some type of communication device, which I’m guessing is a common method of communication on your planet. Just talk to me.”

“I don’t want to talk,” Vegeta grumbled, crossing his arms with a pout.

Bulma couldn’t help but smile. “You can trust me, Vegeta,” she said putting her hand on his shoulder.

“Why would I trust a _stranger_?” Vegeta growled, taking another jab at her, and Bulma definitely felt it. Then she remembered what Raditz told her.

_"From now on, call him Prince Vegeta when addressing him. Trust me; that'll get to him."_

Well, she really had nothing to lose, right? Besides, Raditz obviously knew the Saiyan prince better than anyone. Bulma stood up in frustration and put her hands on her hips. “Well, if that is how you feel, Prince Vegeta, I’ll be taking my leave. You obviously don’t need me.”

Vegeta felt a stabbing feeling in his chest when Bulma not only called him by his title, but when she said he didn’t need her. He wanted to grab ahold of her and tell her she was wrong, but his pride wouldn’t allow it. He just sat there staring at the floor, forcing his emotions to stay buried.

Bulma could see that her words had an impact on him by looking at his fallen expression. Sure, his facial features did not betray him, but in his eyes he looked broken. She didn’t say anything, though, as she turned to leave the room.

Vegeta watched her go, not really knowing what else to do. He looked at the clicking device Bulma had used to work the “television” and tried to figure out how to turn it off. After he found the power button, the device went black and Vegeta continued to sit alone.

Eventually, he got tired of it and got up, walking towards the room he had shared with Bulma the last couple of days. He found her asleep in the bed, his tense features softening as he watched her breathing lightly. Vegeta looked around the room and noticed that there was a cushioned chair there. Instead of getting into bed, he decided to shut the door and sit in that chair. He closed his eyes as he waited for sleep to overtake him.

Bulma heard the sound of the door shut and pretended to be asleep only to hear the motion of Vegeta sitting down in her chair. She sat up and looked over to see the Saiyan prince slightly curled on the chair. Now that he was asleep, she got up and took out an extra blanket from her closet, not noticing that he was watching her every move as soon as her feet touched the floor. When she turned around, Vegeta closed his eyes and listened as her footsteps crept closer.

“You are a stubborn one,” Bulma said quietly with a sigh as she placed the blanket over him. She took her hand and ran in through his hair before placing a kiss on his forehead. “Goodnight, Vegeta.”

Vegeta felt immense relief wash over him at her gesture. Even though he had been pushing her away, she still cared; even if he was a stranger, she still cared; and despite his pride, he knew he cared too. Maybe, just maybe, the following day wouldn’t bring as much trouble as Vegeta predicted.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

The morning was quiet and peaceful, and there wasn’t even a stirring in the small capsule house. Well, almost nothing was stirring. Having been informed about the hunt for Dragon Balls, Oolong became even greedier and wanted the wish for himself. He was actually thankful that Goku would not shut up about the balls. Even though he had been silenced by his older brother, the pig still had enough information. These Saiyans that had taken him on their journey desperately wanted the orange spheres. He gathered that they would be wishing for something important, but he couldn’t figure out what it was nor did he care seeing as the Dragon Balls would become his in moments.

Seconds away from grabbing the shining orbs, Oolong squealed when a foot came crashing down on his wrist effectively stopping him. The pig looked up to see a very unhappy Saiyan prince glaring down hard at him, his arms crossed demanding an explanation.

Oolong laughed nervously looking from the prince to his hand. Vegeta only needed to apply slightly more force than he was to snap his wrist. “H-hey Vegeta,” the pig greeted fearfully. “What’s up?”

“That is Prince Vegeta to you, swine,” he countered, “and I should be asking you the same question. Did you not sneak into this room waking me up while attempting to steal the Dragon Balls?” Vegeta saw Oolong swallow in fear. He knew he had caught him in the disgraceful act of thievery. “Answer wisely.”

Oolong could tell Vegeta was serious, and he didn’t want to get himself even more on his bad side by lying about his intentions. “I…wanted the wish for myself,” he answered and then Vegeta took his foot off his wrist. Oolong took the chance to retract his hand away from Bulma’s carrier bag. “You’re letting me go…just like that?”

“No,” Vegeta replied snappishly, “not ‘just like that.’ The only reason you are here and not as a piece of bacon is because that woman sleeping in the bed decided you would be useful. If for any reason you prove her wrong and dare trying to rob her or any of us again, you will be answering to me. And I will be perfectly honest, I am not as patient as Raditz, as kind as Kakarot, or as blasé as Nappa. If you cross me, you will regret it. Clear?”

Oolong swallowed again before replying with a very quiet, “Crystal.”

Vegeta nodded his head toward the door. Oolong didn’t need to be told twice as he stood up and fled from the room. Shaking his head, Vegeta scoffed and moved to fix Bulma’s carrier bag so that the Dragon Balls were inside of it instead resting to the side of it like the one Oolong was trying to grab. Vegeta couldn’t believe that the pig had such audacity to attempt to steal from them. If it wasn’t for them, the pig would be imprisoned now if not a roast if he were unlucky.

The morning conflict went unnoticed by Bulma as she was still asleep in the bed. The confrontation hadn’t wakened her, which was good for Vegeta. She didn’t need to hear him at his worst, even if he was embellishing his threat with more force than he actually planned to administer should the pig ever try anything again. It was just the attitude he picked up from his visions.

He watched the sleeping woman on the bed, smirking slightly remembering the night before when she placed the blanket on him and kissed his forehead. That had to mean something for them, no matter how small. He was grasping, or at least he thought so, for some optimism regarding their future. It was comforting knowing that she was in fact trying as well despite not knowing him well. He had no idea why her attitude had changed, though. He would have to ask Raditz his thoughts on the matter.

He sensed the others’ kis heighten letting him know that they were all waking up. He questioned whether or not he should wake Bulma up or let her sleep until plans were made. Deciding to settle on the latter, he left the room and moved towards the kitchen. Meanwhile, Bulma already lay awake in the bed having heard the earlier discussion without his knowledge. The way he spoke had frightened her, but deep down she knew he didn’t mean it. She knew that at times guys were talk just to save face or scare someone else into believing them. As long as he tried, though, she didn’t mind that scary aura around him when he spoke that way. She knew she would accept him despite this cruelness he exhibited.

And then as soon as she thought that, she panicked. She still barely knew him, visions or not. Sure, she understood that he knew her, probably even her likes and dislikes. He probably even knew where she lived. Still, to Bulma they still met mere days ago and she was already thinking of him like she would a boyfriend. Rejecting him was wrong, but fully accepting him within their half a week of knowing each other was not a good idea, especially with him not talking to her. Why did they both have to be so stubborn?

Bulma reluctantly got out of bed knowing the Saiyans would need to eat soon and that she would have to face them. They needed to start out soon if they were going to get to the Dragon Ball before nightfall. First they needed to get through the desert, and deal with the bandit Oolong seemed worried about. Well, with how strong the Saiyans were, Bulma assured herself there wouldn’t be a problem. Settling for some white, jean shorts and a dark blue tank top, she left her room determined to get through the day’s hunt as quick as possible.

* * *

When she got into the kitchen, she was shocked. She knew she probably shouldn’t have been, but she was. “Why are you guys eating raw meat?” she asked with a slight shriek in her voice. She looked to Oolong who was watching the Saiyans with disgust. Never had either Earthling seen someone shovel that much raw meat into their mouths at once.

Vegeta took one of the napkins and delicately wiped his mouth before looking at her. “Raw meat is essential,” he explained. “It helps with our growth and gives us the protein we need.”

“Yeah, I know,” Bulma retorted. “Protein is important for our growth too, but we don’t eat raw meat.”

“You do not need as much as we do,” Vegeta continued to explain. “Besides, I am sure you’re aware of proteins losing structure when heated at certain temperatures, correct? Not all proteins, but enough lose their integrity. You humans can get by on it, we can tolerate it, but raw meat is better.”

Bulma was impressed by Vegeta’s explanation. It made sense to her, seeing as she did take a biology course or two. This just made her realize how smart Vegeta truly was. He explained it as well if not better than a textbook ever could. He peaked her curiosity, which with Bulma was always a good thing to do. Now they had something in common that they could discuss later when this journey was over. When he came to train at her home, maybe they could set the foundations for a relationship. She would take the rest of this trip to get to know him as much as he knew her.

After Bulma had grabbed a quick breakfast, while attempting to avoid watching the Saiyans feast, they were ready to go. Everyone left the capsule house so that Bulma could collapse it and return it to her pouch. As she pressed the capsulation button, she noted the fearfulness in Oolong as well as the tenseness among the Saiyans except for Goku who never seemed to worry about anything.

“So are we ready?” Bulma asked the group. She only received a few grunts from Nappa and Raditz and a forced nod from Vegeta. Her brow quirked when she saw him gazing intently at the desert with a small frown plastered on his face. She wondered if he knew something that would put them in danger, though she was fairly certain Vegeta wouldn’t be pushing through if there was anything that would harm them. “Then let’s move out.”

Bulma took another capsule and threw it into the air. A small, coverless SUV appeared.

“How many of those do you have?” Raditz asked in genuine curiosity.

“I don’t know,” Bulma admitted. “I just know I pretty much prepared for every type of travel and circumstance. Anyways, hop in.”

“W-What?” Nappa questioned. “In that thing?”

“Yeah,” Bulma stated. “What’s the big deal? You guys can save energy and this can get us across the desert.”

Vegeta chuckled slightly. “Woman, you’re crazy if you think we can’t take that heat. We come from a desert planet. This will be nothing.”

Bulma sighed in defeat and then said, “Do what you want. I’m still going to drive it.”

“Why is this so important to you?” Vegeta asked, slightly hesitantly. “We’ll get through much quicker if we fly.” The truth was he wanted to avoid the ground all together. If they did, chances were they wouldn’t meet the bandit that he’d have to compete with later. He didn’t understand why Bulma was so insistent on driving, and he most certainly didn’t want her to meet Yamcha alone. He would definitely have to go with her.

Bulma wasn’t expecting that question, and she really didn’t know how to answer. What she had been thinking was that she could better get information from them if they were taking time to chat, like on a long car ride. When they flew, the trip was too short and it was difficult to hear. If they were driving, they could just have casual conversation and she could try to get to know Vegeta. “I just thought it would be fun,” she replied. “Car rides are leisurely and I figured we could talk and learn more about each other, so that we aren’t just…strangers.”

Vegeta and Bulma stared at each other for a moment, and then Vegeta nodded. He had accepted her proposal which lifted a huge weight from Bulma’s heart. The prince who had been ignoring her was now finally going to talk to her, and she would finally start to get to know him. Maybe this whole thing would work out.

“Great, then let’s pile in, boys,” Bulma said in a cheerier tone. Vegeta picked up on it, his expression becoming soft and wide-eyed. He couldn’t believe that she was actually offering him the chance to cross that line of stranger to “friend.” Despite his reluctance, he would comply only if that meant he could start winning her affections. Now, he didn’t seem so worried about the trip into the desert. If the desert bandit did show up, he would make sure to prevent the man from even talking to her. Vegeta finally let himself smirk. This Yamcha would be no threat.

* * *

The drive started off quiet, and, even though they were moving slower than the Saiyans would have liked, it was nice and peaceful. Vegeta never realized how much he liked just being able to admire the landscapes in front of him, and he didn’t even need to expend his energy. Plus Bulma had travel snacks and drinks, which the hungry Saiyans eagerly accepted. Nappa and Raditz sat in the back with Oolong in the middle and Goku on Raditz’s lap.

“So Vegeta?” Bulma said leading into a question. “How old are you?” Vegeta cast her a questioning glance crossing his arms in some sort of defense.

“Why?” he asked. “Does age matter?”

“Huh?” Bulma replied, seeing that he was nervous. “Oh, no, not really. I’m just asking, silly, to get to know you. Also, when’s your birthday?”

“My what?” he asked with a slight snap.

Bulma’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “You mean you’ve never had a birthday party before? Everyone celebrates their birthday, well, almost everyone.”

“What is a ‘birth day?’” Vegeta pressed. “I’ve never heard of it.”

“Oh my…” Bulma said putting a head to her forehead. “Your people don’t celebrate the day you’re born?”

“No,” Vegeta remarked narrowing his eyes in confusion, “why would they? It’s just a day, and age isn’t really something to keep track of. My roundabout age is sixteen, but the only thing I know about the day I was born was a pattern of a warrior in the sky. That is why my father expected me to…”

Vegeta stopped talking as he felt the bitterness towards the legend his father had told him. Obviously the man hadn’t believed it if he thought handing him over to Frieza would have been the only way to protect him. His father was an idiot to make deals with him. The Arcosian tyrant was pure evil and Vegeta was thankful his mother had the clear sense to get him away from him so that he could one day reach that legend.

“Vegeta?”

Vegeta quickly snapped from his thoughts, his eyes meeting Bulma’s worried ones. They continued to gaze at each other, her mentally questioning his behavior, before her eyes went back in front of her.

“Well,” she started, “I could always find out when your birthday is, knowing the coordinates and the constellations. It might take a while, but I could determine it by Earth time.”

“Don’t bother, Bulma,” Vegeta said quietly. “I do not wish to celebrate my ‘birthday.’ All it means is another year where I’m not strong enough.”

“Eh, don’t think like that,” Bulma replied with a gentle softness that touched Vegeta somehow. “Just think of it as another year to prepare for your goal. You should always celebrate your birthday. It reminds you that you’re worth so much more than you can imagine.”

Vegeta thought back to his visions, the flashing image of him murdering someone in cold blood running in the back of his mind. He hated that he seemed to enjoy himself as a deranged expression clouded his normally stoic face. “How would you know what I’m worth?” he growled bitterly, clenching his fist in anger.

Bulma shrugged. Not wanting to draw the conversation out longer, she simply stated, “I just know. I can tell that you’re a good person and a great fighter. If you weren’t, you would have let me die when my car blew up.”

Vegeta cringed at her blatant honesty. It was true that he could have let her die, but if his visions were right, she was his mate. He couldn’t just have left her to that. “True.”

Bulma kept taking peeks at Vegeta while driving. She truly felt for the teenaged Saiyan. He had been through so much at such a young age. It reminded Bulma of why she had offered up her wish. She was lucky, and she knew it. Sure, she dealt with her own trust issues with both friendships and relationships because many tried to get special treatment. That was nothing compared to Vegeta’s suffering or the suffering of the other Saiyans. Her family was wealthy; she had her parents and a roof over her head. There was nothing she could ever imagine complaining about again after all of this. So what if she never wished for her “perfect boyfriend.” If she ultimately gave into Vegeta’s visions, she wouldn’t even have to worry about that. Bulma smiled, knowing that she would ultimately choose to be with the Saiyan. She already felt like she was getting to know him pretty well. How strange that she had felt this connected to someone after knowing them for so short a time. Vegeta had to be something special for her to even consider this.

“Anyways,” Bulma spoke up after being silent for a while, “I’m sixteen too, and my birthday is next month. Hopefully we’ll be done with this search by then. I can’t wait to start working with my dad on training equipment for you guys.”

Vegeta’s eyes widened, but before he got his hopes up, he asked cautiously, “Your offer still stands?”

“Of course,” the girl replied with a smile. “And maybe, just maybe, I’ll decide to tell you the reason I chose to believe you when you told me your story.”

Vegeta blushed slightly, but just continued to look at the sandy scenery. It wasn’t until a small voice from the back rang out that Vegeta’s attention was brought to his Saiyan comrades.

“I’m hungry,” Goku whined slightly having not been appeased by the snacks.

“Kakarot,” Raditz spoke sternly, “we need to cover more ground if we want to get to our destination by nightfall, right Bulma?”

“Actually, I factored lunch into the travel time today,” she answered. “Always better to be prepared. We can stop here for a short lunch break, okay?”

Rumbles of stomachs from each Saiyan answered her question and also caused all the men to blush. Goku just wanted food and didn’t care about the noise his stomach made. He was simply happy that they were stopping. Bulma was quick to get the food capsules out too, and the Saiyans began digging into the food she had prepared for them.

They had been after sometime of being in the desert, and no one knew. The desert bandit, Yamcha, was watching from his hideout in the distance. Humming sounds from a vehicle had caught the ears of his partner in crime, Puar, the shape shifting cat, and both thieves were ready to make themselves known.

“You ready, Puar?” the long-haired fighter asked.

“You bet, Yamcha,” came the high-pitched squeak. “They won’t know what hit ‘em.”

The bandit smirked, ready to hunt his prey. These people had to be idiots to drive right into his territory. The second they stopped, the unsuspecting travelers would learn what it meant to be on his turf.

* * *

“Woman, are you serious?” Vegeta asked in irritation. “I thought you said ‘short break.’”

“Hold on, Mister Impatient,” Bulma called from inside the capsule house. “I needed to use the rest room. It’s not as easy as it is for you.”

“Fine, whatever,” Vegeta muttered. “Just hurry up. I don’t want to be in the desert too long.”

“Jeez, Vegeta,” Bulma called out. “It’s almost as if you’re afraid of this desert. Too hot for you to handle?”

“Please,” Vegeta scoffed. “My planet was much hotter than this. This is nothing.”

“Then what’s your problem?” she pressed.

“Nothing.” It was a lie, and he knew it. He even had to ignore meeting eyes with Raditz and Nappa. Surely they would see his unease if he did. He didn’t have the same mental training to conceal emotions as he would have with Frieza. He only picked up on enough to hide physical discomfort and erect the façade that he was emotionally fine overall. His comrades, his family, they didn’t need to know what haunted him at night or learn that his visions of what could have been left him emotionally broken.

Vegeta walked back over to the car and leaned against it, his foot pressed up against the metal and his arms crossed. He surveyed the surroundings. Something felt off, and Vegeta couldn’t place the feeling. It felt like a familiar setting although he had never seen it before, his mind numb with a slight buzz in his ear. He was almost worried that he had finally lost it, but like he was still sane.

And then he heard it, the sound of someone whizzing by, phasing in front of his sight. The buzz disappeared, and he glared at the desert bandit standing in front of him. So this was the man from his vision, this Yamcha that was supposedly his rival. His power level was pathetic. Vegeta scoffed at the face that this was what he had been nervous about.

The bandit in question looked weak, his crouched stance leaving way too many openings. He wore a cocky smile with a gleam in his eyes. This weakling actually thought he was going to be able to steal from them. The long-haired, scruffy fighter was going to have his hands full with well-trained Saiyan prince.

“You shouldn’t have come to Diablo Desert,” he said smugly. “Now you’ll see what it means to meet a true devil.”

Vegeta rolled his eyes at the lame line. The only devil he knew was Frieza. Nothing else could compare to him. “Don’t embarrass yourself, bandit,” Vegeta scoffed. “You do not want to challenge me.”

“Is that so?” Yamcha retorted. “Look dude, I don’t want to embarrass you in front of your friends so why don’t you just hand over your capsules and cash, and I’ll be on my way.”

“What an idiot,” Nappa muttered. “Vegeta, want me to shut him up?”

Vegeta smirked and crossed his arms. “No,” he replied. “If he wants to fight, then he has one. I won’t even move from this single spot.”

“Wow, that’s an arrogant attitude you have there, shorty,” Yamcha jeered. “Fine then, I gave you a chance to run. I won’t feel guilty when I humiliate you in front of your buddies.”

Vegeta frowned at the insults. This guy was starting to get on his nerves. Well, he would show him that height didn’t matter. The second he tried to land an attack, Vegeta would make sure that Yamcha was the one humiliated.

He didn’t say anything else; he simply stood up tall with his arms crossed waiting. “Alright, you asked for it,” Yamcha said with a grin. “Wolf Fang Fist!”

Yamcha leaped in front of Vegeta, aiming his attacks at his head. Vegeta simply tilted his head in the opposite direction of each hit. Yamcha made the attempt to kick him, but Vegeta, with one arm, knocked him off to the side a few feet.

“What the heck?” Yamcha asked rubbing his jaw from the force of his opponent’s fist. “Oh, a tough guy, huh? Well, you won’t survive it a second time.”

“Hey guys, sorry it took me so long in there,” Bulma stated as she walked out of the capsule house. “I had a phone call and…who’s this?”

Vegeta glanced over to Bulma, gaging her reaction of Yamcha, but all she held was one of confusion and distrust. He looked back to his opponent and was shocked to find him panicking simply from looking at Bulma. Yamcha looked completely horrified, yelling slightly before running off. Vegeta was left gaping at the spot the bandit once stood understanding the hilarity of the situation.

Yamcha, his rival in winning over Bulma, was afraid of her.

Vegeta couldn’t help the booming laugh that fled from his throat. Seeing their prince’s amusement, something they hadn’t seen in a long time, Raditz and Nappa joined him. Goku looked over to Oolong with a small pout and asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Eh, beats me, kid,” the pig answered. “I’m lost.”

Bulma stare blankly at Vegeta, watching him laugh. It was like time had stopped for her. He hadn’t seen him this happy since they started this journey. She didn’t even remember hearing him laugh aside from the occasional chuckle. This was a side she hadn’t seen in him, and it made her so happy that she was now.

Vegeta finally regained control of himself, tilting his head to smirk at Bulma. “Let’s get going,” Vegeta ordered with absolutely no force. “We probably won’t be out of the desert with all these delays by tonight, but we can at least cover more distance.”

Bulma smiled to him and nodded, returning the house to its capsule before everyone piled back into the car. The hum of the engine rang out once again, and the slow but steady drive continued. Vegeta took the moment to lay his head back into his hands and actually relax.

* * *

Vegeta was right when he said they wouldn’t make it out, but they were close. Again, they set up camp, and this time, the Saiyans were outside enjoying the heat that reminded them so much of home. It was much cooler since it was night, but still hot enough to remind them of the fallen planet. Bulma could tell that they seemed much more relaxed and laidback. It actually made her feel good to see them enjoying themselves, even if she had to wear practically nothing to stay cool.

When it was time for bed, Oolong went into the capsule house. Bulma was about to enter, but she saw the Saiyans weren’t budging and were actually lying down in the sandy dunes. She walked over to Vegeta who was a little further back from the rest of his crew. He was looking at the sky, seeing as it was so easy to see the stars there. “Hey, what’s up? You guys coming in?” Bulma asked him.

Vegeta answered with a smile and single shake of his head. “We would rather stay out here tonight,” he stated simply.

Bulma decided to sit down on the sand next to him, which he didn’t seem to mind. “Why?” she asked. “It’s more comfortable inside.”

“Maybe for you,” Vegeta retorted. “Our planet was like this, a desert. The temperature may not be exactly the same, but it’s still nostalgic. I never thought I’d feel terrain like this again in my life.”

“Wow,” Bulma said in a whisper. Part of her had almost forgotten the reason she was giving up her wish. She could never truly forget, especially after the talk earlier, but now…she didn’t know how she’d feel if she could never be in a technologically advanced city or visit a beach ever again. She had no idea what it really meant to lose a home.

But Vegeta did, and he was longing for a world that he never thought he’d get back. Well, at least with the Dragon Balls, he could wish his planet back. But then the thought hit Bulma…how would she become his mate if he were leaving to return to his planet. The feeling of dread formed a knot in her stomach. She decided to distract herself by asking more questions. “So…what else was your planet like? Was it similar to Earth?”

“No,” Vegeta answered honestly. “It was more dangerous with even more rugged terrain than this. It was blazing hot, to temperatures humans wouldn’t be able to tolerate. There were no water bodies like oceans, only a few small patches. The air was arid everywhere. The gravity was ten times higher than here. The sky was a mix of red and black, contrasting the soft blue and white of Earth. It was a warrior’s home.”

“You really miss it,” Bulma observed, turning on her side to observe Vegeta’s expression. He looked like he was almost in pain.

“No,” he said, though part of him was lying. “I used to. I do wish to return to it one day once we wish it back with the Dragon Balls, but I wouldn’t be able to stay there. Too much has changed having lived here for so long. I wouldn’t be happy there.”

Bulma’s eyes softened when he admitted this. She knew she was the reason he wouldn’t be happy returning to his home. Feelings of guilt crept into her stomach replacing the dread. This man, no this teenager who acted like a man, must have really cared about her. It made her wish that she could see the things he had. She was sure she’d readily accept him is she ever had visions of him becoming her one and only.

Maybe breaching her trust barriers regarding strangers wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Determining that, Bulma decided to curl up into Vegeta which shocked the Saiyan to the point where he jumped at the contact. When he realized that she was using his chest as a pillow for her head, he pulled her closer to him, positioning her so she would be comfortable in both his embrace and on the sand.

“It’s going to work out,” Bulma said with optimism. “You’ll see Planet Vegeta again. We’ll find all the Dragon Balls, and then the rest will be cake.”

 _I hope so,_ Vegeta thought before closing his eyes. Part of him felt like Bulma was right. It would be easy. Right now it was too easy. It was hard to trust something when it was too easy. That thought made Vegeta feel uneasy. He decided to shake it off and get some rest under the desert sky. He didn’t know that there was someone watching close by.

“Well, that explains a lot,” Yamcha muttered bitterly. “So that guy’s an alien, huh?”

“Sound like it,” Puar said.

“Well, whatever,” Yamcha said. “So these Dragon Balls are what they’re looking for, huh? Ever heard of them?”

“No, not at all,” the cat answered. “I know what you’re thinking, Yamcha.”

“Yeah,” he said seriously. “I’m going to get these Dragon Balls and wish to be as strong as that guy if not stronger. That will teach him to mess with me.”

“Oh,” Puar replied with wide eyes. “I thought you were going to ask to get over your fear of girls.”

Yamcha’s face went blank for a moment before he said, “Oh yeah, that…that’s what I meant.”

* * *

The first person up in the morning had been Raditz, and the first sight he saw was his prince and Bulma curled up together in the sand. For the first time in a long time, Vegeta had a peaceful smile on his face. Raditz couldn’t help but grin at the teenaged couple. They seemed to be getting closer already. Vegeta would freak out, though, if he knew that everyone save Kakarot and the pig were aware of his visions of her. He’d probably find out one day, but until then, the older Saiyan would keep quiet.

Nappa woke up shortly afterwards, stretching his muscles and popping his stiff joints. “It’s been awhile since I slept that good,” the bald Saiyan stated. He looked over to Vegeta and saw that he was still out. “Looks like he needs more time, huh?”

“It’s been a trying decade for him,” Raditz reminded the older Saiyan. “I wish he had mentioned what his visions were. It would have helped him.”

“Yeah, you knew about them too,” Nappa accused. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Raditz cast him a small glare. “It was not my place to tell you his business, and my father told me to keep quiet about it too. I tried to get Vegeta to talk to me. He knew I knew. That’s why he was somewhat fine with talking to the girl when he thought she was me.”

“Frieza would have destroyed him,” Nappa angrily replied. “That bastard would have damaged him beyond repair.”

“Not exactly,” Raditz told him. Nappa gave him an indignant glare, but Raditz explained. “He would have eventually come here, you know that. He would have met her some other way, but he would have. He would have seen the life he could have with his visions. He’d still hold on to some sliver of sanity, killer or not.”

“Still,” Nappa muttered. “He would have ruined all of us. Well Kakarot would have been here not knowing he was a Saiyan sent to destroy this place, but we would have been monsters.”

“Probably,” Raditz remarked. “I don’t care about that, though. We didn’t have to see it or live through it, Vegeta did. It’s no wonder he’s been as closed off as he has been over the years. Let’s hope he starts opening up, at least to her at some point. She heard the terrible things he said he would have done and she’s able to overlook it. He needs that.”

They both sensed Vegeta’s ki heighten slightly, him now starting to wake up, so they cut the conversation there. He wiped the sleepiness from his eyes and gently shook Bulma awake.

“Five more minutes,” came the girl’s reply.

“Wake up, woman,” Vegeta said a little forcefully. “The sun will be up full force soon, and you’ll be fried to a crisp.”

Bulma reluctantly sat up and stretch before saying, “That wasn’t blunt at all,” with sarcasm lacing her voice. “Morning Vegeta.”

“Hm,” Vegeta grunted with a smile. “Morning.”

“So we’re heading out,” Raditz stated alerting the two teens to the fact that he and Nappa were watching them.

“Yes, we have to get through this desert,” Vegeta stated with as much authority as he could, attempting to keep the awkwardness he felt out of his voice. “Get Kakarot up and the pig out of the house and we will continue.”

“Will do,” Nappa agreed before going into the capsule house.

Getting everyone up and packed went pretty quickly. They knew they were almost out of the desert, so they agreed to forgo breakfast until they were at their destination. Bulma drove as swiftly as she could not knowing that she they were being followed. The Saiyans weren’t even on alert as they enjoyed the rest of the trip in the nostalgic desert. They finally reached the end of the desert and ended up somewhere surprisingly hotter than where they had just been. Vegeta smirked slightly. Now this felt like home.

“Hey Veggie, where are we?” Goku asked from the back seat.

“I don’t know kid,” he answered, “but I think that we’re going to like it here.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

It was hot, so immensely hot, and Bulma couldn't even fan herself without the warmth clinging to her body. She tried to ignore the forming sweat as they walked, as well as the huffiness she felt. And, as usual, the Saiyans seemed perfectly fine in the heat.

 _Lucky,_ she thought bitterly until she noticed Vegeta's upturned lips. Though she hated their locale, it was clear he felt the most comfortable there.

"This place,” Raditz remarked, “I believe it is a place called 'Fire Mountain.' I heard people mentioning it when we first arrived on the planet and were listening to inhabitants for information."

“It is,” Oolong noted, but quickly became silent when the long-haired Saiyan shot him a glare.

"Appropriate name,” Vegeta acknowledged. Somehow, the name seemed very familiar to him. He didn't remember seeing the place in his visions, so he couldn't understand the feeling of déjà vu.

"I get that you guys are super tough, freaky aliens and such,” Bulma complained, “but seriously, how can you not even be sweating."

"Feh, humans,” Nappa muttered, though both Vegeta and Raditz flashed him looks of disapproval.

“Hey, guys,” little Goku called out while flying next to everyone on a little, orange cloud he had been given by the turtle’s master, “the radar thingy is blinking.”

“Let me see that,” Bulma said, the heat momentarily forgotten. The little Saiyan handed it over and she started messing with some of the buttons. “Hey, awesome. It looks like we’re almost there. We just need to head…” She turned and pointed up towards a blazing mountain. “Um…maybe we should wait until that dies down.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Vegeta ordered while smirking. “This just makes things more entertaining.”

“Yeah, entertaining,” Bulma muttered sarcastically, “sure.”

* * *

As they continued towards the spot on the radar they did so in silence. It was starting to get a little awkward, so Oolong spoke up again. “So…” he murmured and looked at the youngest Saiyan. “Goku, if you had this cloud thing, why didn’t you use that to fly?”

Goku blankly looked at the shapeshifter and said, “Nimbus wouldn’t have been able to keep up with my brothers and Nappa,” as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Speaking of not being able to keep up, Bulma was struggling herself and feeling the effects of the heat more and more. She was about ready to pass out from the heat, but she seemed to manage. Well, that’s what she thought. Seconds later, she felt like she wasn’t moving and also felt arms around her. She hadn’t even realized that she had stumbled.

Looking up, she saw Vegeta staring down at her with concerned and questioning eyes. “Are you all right?” he asked her.

“Mm?” she murmured. “Oh, yeah, I guess I am. The heat is just getting to me. I’ll be okay.”

Still, concerned, Vegeta managed to glance at her locator. “It’s not much further,” he stated. “Think you can hold on until we reach the top?”

Bulma nodded and so he helped her to stand up. She smiled at him and placed her free hand on his shoulder. He looked between her hand and face nervously. “Thank you,” she whispered quietly. She then walked ahead of him which he was thankful for so that she couldn’t see him blush.

Oolong noticed though and looked to Goku. “Looks like she’s not the only one affected by the heat,” he chuckled.

“Huh?” Goku remarked.

The shapeshifter just frowned at the boy. “Humor is lost on you, isn’t it?”

“Pig,” Raditz growled out having heard Oolong’s remarks, “if you know what’s good for you, you’ll remain silent.”

“Hmph,” Oolong grumbled before crossing his arms. _Humor is lost on that guy too,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

They eventually made it to the top and were met with a sight they didn’t expect…namely out of control flames. “Oh my gosh!” Bulma exclaimed. “What’s-”

“Who are you?” a stranger shouted, jumping down in front of the group. The Saiyans instantly were on the defensive save for Goku who just seemed confused. “You are trespassing in my territory!”

Instantly, Bulma felt herself being pushed back and looked in front after catching herself to find that Vegeta had put himself between her and the stranger. Nappa and Raditz were also in front of her as if providing a protective barrier in case the giant man was hostile. He already seemed it.

“We had no intention of trespassing,” Vegeta stated calmly with his arms crossed. “We are only looking for an object that we need in our journey.”

“Lies!” the man growled. “I know how thieves like you operate. Just because we are dealing with a crisis does not mean that you can-”

“I know him.”

Everyone was stunned into silence when Goku spoke up so confidently. The Saiyans cast their disbelieving glances, but noticed how deep in concentration Goku was as if trying to remember where he had seen the man before. Realization finally struck him and his eyes grew wide before he smiled. “I know! You’re the Ox King!”

“I am,” the king replied, though confused as to who the boy was. “How is it that you know me?”

“You trained with my grandpa,” Goku stated matter-of-factly. “I saw pictures in his book.”

Ox King’s expression softened, but he still wasn’t sure if he believed the kid. He had only trained with one other person before and that was Gohan. They had trained with Master Roshi and had become fast friends. It had been a long time since Ox King had seen or heard from his friend, and he had no idea that he even had a grandson. “Who was your grandfather?”

At the question, Goku’s expression brightened up so much that the king knew the child was not lying as he said, “Son Gohan.”

The words lingered in between the group and the king before the king smiled at the boy. The Saiyans immediately relaxed, their battle readiness disappearing. Now, it all made sense, especially since the child was sitting on the Flying Nimbus, something that his old master had in his possession. “I didn’t know Gohan had a grandson.”

Goku was still smiling as he said, “He found me and adopted me.”

“That sounds like Gohan,” Ox King murmured fondly before his eyes cut over to the Saiyans, still distrusting. “Alright, let’s start over. I know the kid is the grandson of my friend, Gohan, and I trust his word since he can sit on the Nimbus cloud, but who are all of you and what have you come for? You mentioned an object.”

“Why don’t you explain _that_ first?” Vegeta suggested, nudging his head towards the flames.

“That’s being taken care of,” Ox King replied, still unsure if he trusted the people who accompanied his friend’s grandson. “You first.”

Vegeta shrugged and then proceeded with telling the man his story. He kept his eye on the flames which seemed to be staying in place, but also kept eyeing Bulma who looked like she was about ready to succumb to heat exhaustion. He managed to tell the story quickly without leaving the important parts out. Vegeta could tell that the king was skeptical, so he allowed his tail to unwind from around his waist hoping that would clear the doubt.

Ox King was skeptical, but not because he didn’t believe their story. It was just hard to believe that the people in front of him were aliens from a destroyed world. He couldn’t fathom how another being could have that sort of power or malevolence to target another race in the manner that this tyrant had. As he reflected on their story and mission, Ox King realized that his daughter had not yet returned from the errand he sent her to run. She should have been back with the solution to their problems by now.

When Ox King voiced his concern, Bulma saw it as an opening to discuss taking the man’s Dragon Ball. “We can help you,” she offered.

Nappa was about to contradict her statement. Though he was better with her being around seeing as she was the prince’s intended mate, he still didn’t like her offering up their services in exchange for objects that they could just take. Vegeta’s words cut him off, though. “Raditz and Kakarot can go find your daughter,” he offered. “Where did you send her?”

“She was supposed to go to Master Roshi’s to get the Bansho Fan. It’s the only thing that can extinguish the flames on Fire Mountain,” the king explained, his voice heavy with both concern for his daughter and his lands.

“She probably got held up on the way,” Raditz stated. “Kakarot and I will find her.”

“And while they’re doing that, we’ll go to get the Bansho Fan,” Bulma added. “If we bring both your daughter and the fan back, would you consider..?”

Ox King nodded, knowing what she was going to ask. “If you bring my daughter back safely and a way to put out these flames, I will happily hand my Dragon Ball over to you so that you can complete your own quest and stop that monster.”

Vegeta nodded his thanks and moved to take Bulma. Raditz and Goku were looking at a picture Ox King had of his daughter so they would know who to find while Vegeta picked the human up. His action has startled Bulma and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck before questioning him with her eyes. He didn’t answer her unspoken question. Instead, he turned to Nappa. “You met the man so surely you would be able to recognize his energy and lead us there,” the prince remarked.

Nappa’s expression soured, but he nodded. “Yeah, I can get us there.”

“Then let’s hurry,” Vegeta ordered as he and Nappa took off to the skies.

Raditz memorized the photograph and then took off with his brother using the Nimbus cloud. “So, a daughter is a girl, right?” Goku asked making his older brother shake his head.

“Yes, Kakarot,” the Saiyan replied.

Ox King was watching as their silhouettes disappeared from view before he returned to see what he could do to help his people. In the rush to find the Ox King’s daughter and retrieve the Bansho Fan, no one knew that a desert bandit was listening in or that he recognized the girl in the picture for he had already encountered the child. He was concerned that he had harmed her and took off on foot with his sidekick to return to the spot where he left the unconscious child.

* * *

Raditz was flying only as fast as Nimbus so that Goku could keep up and also because he was scanning for the girl on the ground below. He spotted a small, human body lying down on the ground causing his expression to darken. He really hoped that the child was fine, just taking a nap, but seeing her flat on her back and her arms spread out left a sour feeling in the pit of Raditz’s stomach. “Kakarot,” he stated almost robotically, “we need to touch down.”

“Okay!” the little boy chimed, not knowing what was going on in his brother’s mind.

The older Saiyan was immensely relieved when they landed and he saw the girl’s chest rise and fall with life. It would have been terrible if she had been seriously injured or worse. He would not want to be the one to tell a father that he lost his child. Goku ran over to the child that was no taller than he was and gently smacked her awake…which, for being a Saiyan, wasn’t all that gentle.

“Ouch!” the girl snapped as she woke up from her nap. She looked around to see her attacker, but was highly surprised when she saw a smiling boy who looked to be around her age right in front of her. Her astonishment dissipated behind her rage. “Hey!” she shouted at him. “What did you that for?”

“You’re Chi Chi, right?” Goku asked causing Raditz to face-palm. Of course she was Chi Chi. She was identical to the girl in the picture. Raditz was strangely happy that he never hit his head as a child. This was just too ridiculous.

The girl grew silent, wondering why the boy was asking her name. Raditz could see the hesitation plastered on her face and explained, “We’re doing a favor for your father, the Ox King. He asked us to find you while our other friends went to go find this Master Roshi. He’s trying to help the people.”

“How do I know you aren’t lying?” the young girl responded with a scowl.

Goku’s happiness instantly left as he eyed the girl, or what he assumed to be a girl. He knew Raditz told him he couldn’t just check if someone was a girl, but it was just so hard to tell. The little Saiyan jumped down from Nimbus and quickly went to check if Chi Chi was a girl, and she responded by letting him have it and accidentally grabbing his tail to get him away from her.

Raditz was completely amused by the situation, though he pitied his brother for getting his tail grabbed. “Get away from me,” Chi Chi cried, but Goku had lost all his power and ability to move and could not remove himself from the girl.

The older Saiyan walked over to the girl who was trying to smack Goku off of her. He put his hand on his brother’s tail and his other on the girl’s hand and gently pried them apart before placing Goku on the Flying Nimbus. “Sorry about that,” Raditz said fondly. “Kid hit his head as a baby and really doesn’t get boundaries. He meant nothing by it. Was only checking to, um, see if you were a girl.”

Chi Chi blushed and then felt bad that she had hurt Goku in some way. The kid still seemed a little out of it, but slightly more relaxed when the older man had placed him on the cloud and released hold of his tail. She did see the guy rub the tail for a moment before he released. “W-What did I do to him?” she asked hesitantly. “And who are you?”

Raditz chuckled as he faced the girl with a small smile. “I’m Raditz, and this is my little brother, Kakarot, though he prefers to be called Goku.” At Chi Chi’s inquisitive expression, he added, “It’s a long story. And you accidentally yanked his tail. That’s a weak spot for us…well, if we haven’t trained it out of us. Our tails are very sensitive and, if pulled, we can temporarily lose our power and energy…turning into a mess, though, is Kakarot’s thing.”

The human girl felt immensely guilty for causing the little boy pain, especially knowing that he wasn’t trying to…well, he wasn’t trying to be perverted. “So…” she said awkwardly, “my father really did send you to find me? And someone really is going to Roshi’s to find the Bansho Fan?” Raditz nodded an affirmative. “Then, please take me back home. My father needs to know that I’m okay.”

“You got it, princess,” Raditz teased. He looked back over to his brother who was starting to come to. “Hey, Kakarot.” His brother didn’t respond making Raditz sigh. He didn’t know if Nimbus would listen to him, but it became a moot point when Chi Chi climbed on Nimbus and tried to help wake his brother up. It didn’t go unnoticed by Raditz that she, too, could sit on the cloud. Raditz grinned and then shook his head as Chi Chi told the cloud where to go. _Children,_ he thought fondly as they all took for the skies, unaware that the desert bandit was listening closely, ascertaining the Saiyans’ weaknesses.

* * *

Nappa was able to locate the turtle hermit’s island. It was a small place in the middle of nowhere. Vegeta had never really seen islands before considering he lived on a desert planet. “So this is the place,” Vegeta stated curtly as he looked at the small, pink house. He grimaced and added, “There’s not much to it.”

“Well, if it isn’t some of the people I met with little Goku,” Roshi said, making his presence known. Vegeta was surprised to see a short, old man standing in front of him. The man waved. “How’s it going?”

“We need to talk to you about something,” Bulma stated as Vegeta released her. “We were sent on an errand.”

“An errand, eh?” the man questioned before laughing strangely. Vegeta’s brow quirked as he was trying to figure out what was so funny. “Let’s see if I can help you with it.”

The old man was making his way closer to Bulma and Vegeta could see beneath his glasses the mischief in his eyes. He narrowed his eyes at the man as a sense of déjà vu hit him again and he knew not to let this lecherous old man anywhere near his mate. Vegeta instantly knocked the man away to stop him and snapped at him that Bulma was off limits.

Bulma’s heart beat rapidly in her chest as Vegeta made his move. She had started to see Roshi’s intent, but she was ready to defend herself if need be. The fact that Vegeta saw it, too, and moved to defend her honor made her feel both wonderful and a bit nervous. The nervousness came from the fact that Vegeta acted so possessive over her. It reminded her that he saw her as a “future mate” while to her he was just someone she had met a few days ago with a troubled past. Despite that fact, she really was trying to get to know him, but his protectiveness always seemed to panic her. Somehow Vegeta had wormed himself more into her heart, but she was at a loss of what to do.

“That has nothing to do with the errand in question!” Vegeta shouted at the old man, ready to attack him again. “Be decent!”

Roshi quickly stood up and held up his hands in defense. “Easy, easy,” he ordered as he waved his hands slightly in a manner to say ‘settle down.’ “If that’s not your errand, what exactly do you all need? I know I recognize the tall one and the girl over here, though the last time I saw her she seemed so sad.”

“Back to the point,” Nappa scoffed, “the Bansho Fan. We need it. Now.”

“The Bansho Fan?” Roshi questioned in shock. “What in blazes do you need that for?”

“For exactly what you said,” Vegeta remarked. “Blazes. There’s a fire on Fire Mountain and the Ox King is in need of the fan to put out the flames.”

“Ah, the Ox King,” Roshi pondered, “one of my old students. Well, I don’t have the Bansho Fan anymore, but I could still be of some use.”

“Feh,” Nappa laughed. “What use could you be, old man?”

Roshi’s countenance seemed to change slightly, and Vegeta could sense that the man was wiser beyond his years and stronger than he looked. “I can put the flames out myself.”

“What?” Nappa nearly yelled.

“I’m sorry, what?” Bulma asked at the same time Nappa snarled at the elder.

Vegeta was the only one who remained silent, sizing up the old man. Nothing regarding his demeanor suggested he was bragging or stretching the truth. He truly believed he could put out the flames of his old charge’s land. Ox King clearly trusted his old master as well. “Then you will come with us.”

Nappa looked at Vegeta, aghast. “You can’t be serious. You actually believe this human? He’s nothing but a letch!”

At hearing the term, “human,” Master Roshi seemed curious. Not wanting to linger on the subject any longer. “We need to get back to Fire Mountain. Nappa, take him. I’ll take Bulma.” He looked over to the human fighter. “We’ll get there faster is we fly.”

* * *

Raditz and Goku had already gotten back with Chi Chi already, and Goku had already recovered from his tail experience. They glanced over at Vegeta and Nappa touching down on the ground with Bulma and Roshi. “Master Roshi!” Ox King exclaimed. “It’s been too long.”

“It has, Ox,” his former master replied, taking in the amount of flames and the damages they were causing. “Now, I’ll just-”

“Master Roshi, it’s good to see you again,” Goku said excitedly. “Did you bring the Baboon Fan?”

Raditz sighed in frustration and reiterated, “Ban-sho Fan, Kakarot.”

“That’s what I said!”

“He did not have the fan in his possession,” Vegeta stated making the king’s face fall, “but he assures us he can get the flames out himself.”

“Heh,” Nappa scoffed, disbelieving. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Then prepare for a show,” Roshi scolded. “Watch closely.”

The human took his stance directly in front of the wake of the flames. He took in a deep breath before he pulled his hands back, his wrists joined. “Kame,” he called out, blue ki flickering in his palms. “Hame,” he said again, the ki growing and becoming more stable. “HA!” he shouted as his hands moved forth, a large beam of ki breaking the wave of fire in front of them whilst blowing the flames out with the force of the attack.

The Saiyans looked at the small, old man in shock, having not expected this huge ki attack. Yes, compared to them, the attack was much weaker, but it was still an impressive feat for an old, human man. The three gained a new respect for the idiosyncratic fighter and his masterful techniques.

But no one noticed what else the force of his attack could do.

With nowhere else for the beam to go, it hit directly into Fire Mountain and destroyed a part of it, in addition to putting the flames out. Nervously, Roshi chuckled, “Well…at least they’re out.”

Bulma flashed the old man a glare because now it was going to be much harder to find the Dragon Ball _AND_ the Ox King’s home was ruined. “How can you joke about something like that?”

“It’s fine,” Ox King assured the girl. “We can rebuilt. If the flames hadn’t been put out, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”

“In any case, my work here is done,” Roshi stated before looking at his former student. “So, Ox, how have you been doing?”

While Roshi was caught up in pleasantries with the Ox King, his daughter, and both Goku and Raditz, Vegeta looked to Bulma who was busy trying to get her Dragon Radar to sense the sphere they needed. He gently grabbed her, making her jump, before flying the two of them up to a pile of rubble. Bulma looked to him with thankfulness before she finally found the spot where they needed to dig.

Making her way over to the spot, Bulma tripped over some of the rubble and nearly fell. The impact, of course, never happened and Bulma felt a strong arm holding her steady. She glanced up at the Saiyan prince who had not yet moved to released her. “Well, that could have been pretty bad,” she joked, but his serious expression remained. She teasingly added, “So that’s the second time today you’ve had to ‘rescue’ me from falling.”

“I will always be there to rescue you, Bulma,” Vegeta stated earnestly as he finally set her back down. He continued on his way to the spot indicated on her radar while Bulma pondered his words.

His words made her feel both comfortable and scared. On the one hand, it was nice to know that she had someone actually looking out for her. Vegeta didn’t truly owe her anything, even if these visions showed them together. Still, his visions are what bothered her. Not necessarily the visions of them together, but the fact that he had them. He was not only haunted by visions that never came to fruition, but he still saw futuristic things including moments where he would save her. The fact that he admitted that he would always be there to save her indicated that there would be many more times where she needed to be saved. That did not sit well with her.

Vegeta drew Bulma’s attention back when he casually dropped the orange sphere on her lap. The human glanced down to the seven-starred ball and then smiled. They now had another Dragon Ball, and soon Vegeta and the Saiyans could make their wish. “We should head back,” the prince stated before Bulma nodded and placed the ball into her backpack.

* * *

Meanwhile, down below as the Saiyan prince and Bulma searched, Goku was asking Master Roshi about his Kamehameha Wave technique. The little boy wanted to know if he could perform that, too. “Well, Goku, it took me fifty years to master that technique, so I’m not sure if you could.”

Goku looked a little deflated at the rejection, but Raditz knew his brother could use the technique if he wanted. He decided to egg his little brother on a bit. “Kakarot, try it out. Let’s see what you can do.”

Roshi casted the Saiyan brother an unamused glance, narrowing his eyes at him. Raditz responded by crossing his arms and smirking, motioning to his little brother who had already centered himself and gotten into Roshi’s earlier stance. He mimicked everything perfect: the stance, the moves, the chant, and, yes, the blaring ki blast that he directed towards the sky. The old turtle hermit looked back at Raditz who was proudly watching his brother perform the old man’s technique. Nappa seemed impressed, but he, too, looked like he expected the attack to work out. His impression was over the amount of power the boy’s ki possessed. The two human men were stunned, but Chi Chi was colored impressed by Goku’s actions.

Bulma and Vegeta touched down right after, and the prince didn’t look too happy. “Kakarot, you need to aim next time,” he admonished. “That blast was directed towards us.”

“Oops,” Goku replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, Veggie… I just didn’t want to hit the mountain again. I thought you were still there.”

Vegeta didn’t really mind because he could sense the attack coming and was easily able to avoid it, but Bulma had been a little terrified of the beam that passed right by her face after Vegeta’s evasion. “It’s fine. We’ve gotten what we came for.”

“Well, it’s about time,” Oolong finally spoke up having been left behind by the Saiyans that day and forced to endure the heat.

Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa all glared at the pig, silencing him, though Oolong wasn’t very happy about it. The prince looked over to the king. “Thank you for hearing us out,” he stated diplomatically.

Ox King just smiled at him and said, “That was the easy part. Thank you for getting my daughter back safely and for getting the fire out.”

“We wish we could stay and help you rebuild,” Raditz interjected.

“You have your own journey to take,” the king answered. “If you need anything, let me know. You Saiyans are always welcome here.”

“Saiyans?” Roshi questioned, glancing over at the aliens. No one answered his wondering.

“So…” Bulma murmured. “We have to go flying in that direction.”

Vegeta followed her line of sight and then took her form in. She still seemed a bit tense and shaky after nearly getting his by Goku’s attack. This caused the prince to make a request that would weave his way even more into Bulma’s heart. “Why don’t we just drive?” he asked. Bulma’s attention snapped to him, her expression astonished. “We can just talk some more.”

“Sure,” Bulma replied with a smile, blushing slightly. “I’d like that.”

She decapsulized her car once more, and everyone piled in. She waved once more to the king, his daughter, and the hermit before she drove away, heading further west. Chi Chi waved back at little Goku who was waving to her before he sat himself down on his brother’s lap.

“Oh, Goku,” the doe-eyed, little princess sighed. “I’m going to marry him one day.”

And still, no one noticed that the desert bandit and his partner were still hot on the Saiyans’ trail.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

Bulma had driven into a small town and had to stop for gas. She looked over to Vegeta was had dozed off sometime during the ride. The other Saiyans and Oolong had also been asleep, but once the vehicle stopped and was turned off, Vegeta instantly awoke. He looked slightly alarmed at first having been caught in a vision-like dream. When the car had powered down, Vegeta felt like he had landed on a planet in those pods he had never really traveled in touching down on a planet he’d have to lay waste.

His eyes met Bulma’s questioning orbs, but he simply looked around the town. It felt like they were in the middle of nowhere. Around the same time, the remaining passengers began to stir. Raditz stretched out and yawned, and when he opened his eyes he found Goku on his lap rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Where are we?” the little boy asked.

“Just some town,” Vegeta informed them, momentarily looking away from Bulma.

“We needed to stop for gas,” Bulma explained. “We should probably stock up on food and supplies, plus after yesterday’s bout on the mountain, I think I need a better outfit for the heat.”

“You’re not suggesting that we stick around this dump, are you?” Nappa scoffed. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“It’s fine,” Vegeta stated besides the elder Saiyan’s complaints. His eyes cut over to Nappa’s and narrowed. “It could be worse. Much, _much_ worse.”

Nappa felt a chill as Vegeta spoke. He wondered if Vegeta’s statement had anything to do with this vision power he seemed to have. It was almost like he was talking from experience, and Nappa caught himself wondering what life fully under Frieza’s tyranny would have been like. There was no denying that the Saiyans were never a pleasant people, but they had only been looking for fights, not always murdering entire races. Just how would it have been if the three of them were in fact captured by the monster? He looked over to Kakarot…actually, four of them.

Bulma could feel the intensity around all of them and thought it would be best if she left the Saiyans alone for a little while. “Hey, here’s a thought. Why don’t I just head to the general store we passed? You guys can explore for a little while.”

Vegeta’s attention snapped to her, and he didn’t look pleased. He then looked around the town and figured the place was harmless enough. It wasn’t a very large town, and he could even see the general store at the corner of the street. “Fine,” he replied. “Just don’t go far.”

Bulma smiled at him before they all got out of the capsule car. She encased the vehicle and started walking to the store. For some reason, she could still feel Vegeta’s eyes on her. It seemed, for once, that she didn’t really feel all that smothered, especially when the heat disappeared.

Unbeknownst to the group, Yamcha and Puar had followed them, and he had overheard their conversation. He was thrilled that the blue-haired girl was temporarily leaving the group. He wouldn’t have to worry about her, and he could finally take on the Saiyans now that he knew one of their weaknesses. The bandit peeked around the building and saw Goku’s tail waving in his face. He attempted to grab it, but the little Saiyan moved too fast as he ran after the others. Yamcha frowned, watching as his Saiyan enemies looked around the town. They, after all, had only been used to seeing human villages. This was something new for all of them.

* * *

In the store, Bulma was already at the register checking out. The clerk smiled at her and thanked her for her business. Well, it wasn’t a surprise. Bulma had bought a ton of food for her Saiyan companions. She capsulated her groceries just in enough time for two men to enter the store with guns, holding it up. A couple of fires were shot at the ceiling causing all of the shoppers and employees to panic. Bulma remained stunned, but she regained her composure and tried to hide her face. She couldn’t afford to be recognized, least of all by men with guns. This was not how she expected the day to go.

For a moment, she hoped Vegeta would show up and deal with these strangely dressed men. Seriously, were those bunny ears? That definitely wasn’t something she expected thieves to wear. It all made sense when a white rabbit wearing sunglasses entered the shop. “Alright, everyone make way for the boss,” one of the men called out making the other customers panic. Bulma was more curious than frightened. They couldn’t be calling that rabbit their boss, could they?

Unfortunately for Bulma, her lack of fear earned the rabbit boss’s attention. Sure, he didn’t recognize the woman, but the fact that she wasn’t at all responsive to the presence of Monster Carrot intrigued him. He snapped his fingers and pointed to the blue-haired woman. Bulma didn’t know what she was in for, but she had this burning desire to retreat. Because the stupid rabbit and his gun happy goons wanted her, the store owner blocked off her only exit. Nervously, she looked back to the strangely dressed bunny. “Well, what do we have here? You’re not afraid of the mighty Monster Carrot?”

Bulma’s brow furrowed. “Monster who?”

The rabbit actually grinned and chuckled. “Well, boys, looks like I have a new assistant.”

“What?”

Bulma had been knocked out with the butt of the gun as soon as her question left her lips.

* * *

Something was wrong. Vegeta rarely ever felt like the world around him was just wrong. He hadn’t felt like this since his first vision of Frieza, but this time a vision was not the cause. No, the cause was his own concern.

It had been an hour, and Bulma had not returned.

Sure, she had gone to get resources and mentioned something about getting clothes better suited for the heat, but it could not have taken her this long. The woman knew they were all in a hurry. It was not like his visions of the future with her day long shopping sprees. Or, maybe it was and he was just being paranoid?

“Bulma’s been gone an awfully long time,” Goku voiced. “I’m hungry.”

“Kid, you’re always hungry,” Nappa scoffed, “but you have a point. Maybe she ran off with the Dragon Balls.”

Vegeta halted and immediately turned to face Nappa. His angry eyes spoke volumes that even Raditz, and Yamcha and Puar who were following far behind were frightened. “She will _not_ betray us. I don’t care if you believe me or not. She did not run off.”

Nappa nervously nodded and then looked over to Raditz who shook his head and gave him a pointed look reminding the Saiyan of who exactly he was just slandering. If Vegeta was convinced this woman was on their side for the long haul, he couldn’t argue it. She was his intended, after all.

“Vegeta,” Raditz called out to him as the prince walked away. The Saiyan instantly disappeared from view, most likely to go search for the woman. Raditz could only sigh before he snapped at Nappa. “What the hell was that?”

Nappa just rubbed the back of his head. “Momentary slip of the tongue.”

The younger Saiyan rolled his eyes before his brother tugged gently on his hair. “What, Kakarot?”

“We should go help Veggie. I think he’s worried about her.”

Raditz’s expression softened. “Sure, let’s track him down.” He looked to the pig and glared. “Watch the car, and don’t even think about running off. We’ll find you.”

Oolong gulped and nodded, deciding to bite back a smart remark. He wasn’t stupid enough to add fuel to the fire when everyone was so on edge. The three Saiyans were able to pinpoint Vegeta’s ki and started heading in that direction. At the same time, Yamcha and Puar continued their chase hoping to finally get the drop on the Saiyans.

* * *

Finding Bulma’s locations wasn’t very difficult for the prince. He knew her energy in such personal, intimate ways that made him shiver as he pinpointed her exact location. He speedily rounded a corner, sensing Bulma’s energy with many unfamiliar energies surrounding her. His eyes narrowed. If any of those strangers harmed her, he would make sure it was the last thing they ever did.

The sight he came upon was enough to making his already boiling blood rage through him, and he could not bite back the growl he released. He was prepared for Bulma to be harmed, and that alone would have signed the death warrants of those men and what looked to be like a rabbit. Vegeta was not prepared to see his woman wearing an undignified, revealing outfit coupled with white rabbit ears and a fluffy tail. She was handcuffed and looked incredibly unamused as she sighed. The stupid rabbit was treating her like a servant, demanding she feed him grapes that a nervous human brought to the table before scurrying back into the shop.

He could stand there watching the weakling rabbit degrade her in that matter. His snarl caught the attention of the two men, the rabbit, and Bulma whose eyes revealed her relief when they landed on his. “You have five seconds to release her,” Vegeta demanded in a sinister voice. “If you don’t, I cannot assure you your lives.”

Yamcha had made it to the scene, eyeing both the Saiyan and the rabbit, but his attention remaining on the latter. “I know I’ve seen that rabbit before.” He heard the sound of something heading towards them in the air and looked up to see the other Saiyans flying towards their prince. “Oh great…they’re all there…”

“What in the world?” Raditz expressed walking over to the prince and standing at his side. “Hey, Vegeta…” He looked to the younger Saiyan and nearly gasped. He had never seen the prince, or any other Saiyan for that matter, look so…feral.

“Who is that?” Goku’s young voice interjected, snapping his brother out of his shock. “It looks like a bunny. Is that our dinner?”

“If he doesn’t release Bulma, he will be,” Vegeta announced, his voice just as chilling as before.

This prompted the giant, white rabbit to laugh. “You think you can take me on, stranger? I think this attitude is a little front you’re putting up because you don’t want your buddies to see that you’re terrified.”

“Um…you might not want to egg him on,” Bulma suggested in a whisper. She knew that Vegeta was far from scared, and if this rabbit continued to insult the prince…well, it wouldn’t end well for him.

Vegeta took a few steps closer and crossed his arms. “I am not afraid of you, rodent,” he hissed casually. “Release the woman, and I will show you true terror.”

“Oo,” the rabbit uttered. “Now I’m intrigued. So, you’ll fight me if I remove this girl’s shackles?”

“I will.”

“Just remember, you asked for it.”

“What do you think he means by that?” Nappa scoffed derisively.

Alarmed, Yamcha finally realized who that rabbit was. “Now I remember! His touch is his weapon! If he touches her or any of them, they’re goners for sure!”

Unaware of the other human, Vegeta glared daggers at the rabbit. He wanted to attack him, but something was off, and Bulma was in the way. If he did anything, he’d most likely be the one to harm the girl. He refused to be the one that caused her pain. “Don’t worry, dear,” the rabbit said suavely. “I’ll have these cuffs off in a jiffy.”

Bulma hesitated as the rabbit held his hand out, but in his opposite hand, he held the ki. She figured the animal was stupid enough to try anything with Vegeta standing right there, so she gave him her hands. Strangely enough, the rabbit smiled at her and allowed his hand to touch hers. He undid the cuffs, his disturbing grin never fading, and she moved to rub her wrists. But, as she performed the action, something felt strange and her eyes widened. The last thing she remembered was a sea of pink smoke surrounding her.

“W…What the hell?” Raditz yelled out, all the Saiyans alarmed. “The fuck just happened?”

“H-H-He turned Bulma into a carrot!” Goku panicked.

Vegeta couldn’t respond. He was in shock over the fact that the woman had disappeared and a small, orange carrot had taken her place. His animalistic side returned as he began marching up in fury to the rabbit. “What did you do?”

The rabbit laughed, his eyes fully of delighted mirth. “What did I do? I did just what you asked. I warned you, well, sort of. Ha ha ha!”

Vegeta was shaking, by this point, in rage, his fists clenched hard enough to draw blood. “Y…You,” he roared. “You will pay for this, you bastard.”

The rabbit laughed again. “Come at me,” he goaded, “I dare you. No one can defeat Monster Carrot.”

At that moment, the rabbit snapped and his two drones stepped forward and started shooting at the Saiyans. Deflecting the bullets of the machine guns were easy, but doing so caused the metal to shoot in different directions into people’s stores and homes. It caused a mass panic for the citizens which sucked Vegeta out of reality for the moment, lost in his vision memories.

Raditz noticed the prince’s zoned out expression and snapped him out of it by grabbing his shoulder. His father had told him never to interfere with Vegeta when he was having the vision, but with his intended mate in danger there was no time for him to be lost.

Vegeta shook his head to pull himself out of it. Only Bulma had been able to pull him out of a vision before, and now because of her it happened again. It was then that the human who had been tailing them made himself known, entering battle with the two gunmen, taking them out. Monster Carrot whistled, and three more guys with mechanical weapons showed up. The Saiyans were surprised by his appearance and his help. “Hey,” the bandit called out. “Don’t let this guy touch you, and don’t fight him head on or you’ll be turned into carrots like your friend.”

“Ew,” Goku complained. “I don’t want to be a carrot. I don’t like them.”

“None of us do,” Nappa grumbled. He looked to Vegeta. “How do you want to handle this?”

The prince looked to the human bandit and grimaced. “Why warn us? We’re after the same thing.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Yamcha responded simply. “Now, let’s stop these losers.”

Vegeta nodded in agreement. “I’ll deal with Carrot,” he declared. “You three assist the human with those gunmen.”

“Right,” the others replied as Vegeta walked to the center of the street facing the rabbit.

Monster Carrot laughed in glee, and the grating sound reminded Vegeta of the sickening cackle that haunted his nightmares. His eyes narrowed at the rabbit decided heckle him, threatening to eat the carrot if he didn’t call off his men. In response, a single ki beam left his fingertips and shot Monster Carrot in the arm causing him pain enough to drop the carrot. Then, when the rabbit went to retrieve it, Vegeta shot him clean in the leg making his opponent fall to his knees. “I can do this all day,” he taunted. “And I don’t even need to touch you. I demand you change Bulma back now.”

“W-Wait, you don’t have to-” Vegeta shot out his other leg so now the rabbit was on two knees.

“Change her back. Don’t make me kill you to reverse your power.”

“H-How…?”

Vegeta looked away having seen visions of the battle going two ways, and if it went the way he was threatening Bulma would be freed, but he would begin his life as a murderer. He wanted very much to avoid that life. “O-Okay, you win! I’ll turn her back.”

Monster Carrot used his good hand to clap against the one on his injured arm, ignoring the pain as he did so. In seconds, that same pink smoke appeared and Bulma was sitting in place of the carrot. “W-What’s going on?” she asked nervously, trying to get her bearings. When she noticed the rabbit on his knees beside her, she quickly moved away from him thankful that she was finally free of whatever had just happened.

The other men had been defeated by Yamcha and Goku, Nappa and Raditz smashing their weapons to pieces. “Your leader had been defeated,” Nappa stated, his arms crossed as he stood over the men. “You have two choices. Either meet the same fate as him, or shed your ears now and abandon the fallen. Your choice.”

Monster Carrot’s men didn’t need to be told twice. They knew a prison sentence was in store for their leader, so they took off their ears and ran off to the crowd. Nappa chuckled. “Cowards.”

“You can see how loyal they are,” Raditz sneered before looking to carrot. He then looked to his prince and saw the war raging in his eyes. “We should let this village deal with him. He was their problem to begin with.”

That snapped Vegeta out of his mental battle. Bulma was safe now, and although he wanted revenge on the rabbit it was best not to start down that terrible road from which he would not be able to return. He turned away from Monster Carrot, prepared to go check over Bulma, but turning his back gave Carrot the advantage.

Goku noticed that Monster Carrot was about to take advantage of Vegeta’s distraction. “Power pole extend!” he yelled out, his pole rushing into Monster Carrot’s back, irritating the rabbit.

Vegeta’s attention shifted to Monster Carrot who seemed like he was about to try and touch the younger Saiyan. His palm shot up, but before he could blast the rabbit, another appeared threatening to touch Monster Carrot using his own power against him. The prince heard Yamcha snickering and realized he knew what was going on. Then he remembered the cat thing that had been with him in the desert, his brow furrowed. If his visions were correct, wasn’t that fur ball a shapeshifter too?

With Monster Carrot injured and terrified, he wasn’t going anywhere. The rabbit could only weakly crawl away from Puar. Nappa watched the sorry sight in disgust. “You know that a human prison won’t be able to handle him,” he said to the prince. “They can’t even touch him to put him in the cell. The only way to stop him and prevent him from turning others into carrots is to end him here and now.”

The prince knew Nappa was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. “Hey,” Goku called out, earning everyone’s attention. “Why don’t I just take him to the moon with my power pole?”

“Kakarot, you can’t touch him,” Raditz reminded him.

“I know that, but if he stands against that sign, we can tie him up without touching him, and I can hold onto the sign instead. There’s no one he can hurt us on the moon.”

Even though the idea sounded ridiculous and crazy, Vegeta preferred that to the alternative. He glared at the rabbit and said, “Well, do as he said.”

Monster Carrot nodded, scurrying over to a sign, once again ignoring the pain in his limbs. He let the boy tie a rope around him and the sign, never once touching him to his dismay. The child, true to his word, managed to reach the moon using his power pole. He abandoned the rabbit on the moon, and returned to the Earth finding that Yamcha and his feline friend had disappeared.

When he pointed it out, Vegeta felt uneasy, for he had not noticed their abrupt departure. He had no idea what to think of the bandit now, coming to their aid despite the fact that he could have gotten whatever it was he wanted. Yamcha had given up the opportunity to steal the Dragon Balls away from Oolong and assisted the Saiyans whom he despised simply because it was the right thing to do. Was is possible that he and Bulma would get together? He had spoken to Bulma about not being able to return to his planet, but if she had the opportunity to be with a human instead of him, should he let her take it?

Of course, in contrast to his inner battle, he had no idea that Yamcha and Puar had fled because Yamcha was still terrified of Bulma now that she was no longer a carrot.

* * *

Bulma released a heavy sigh as she changed out of that horrid bunny outfit. To be honest, the whole day had been a blur to her. She couldn’t believe she had let herself get so easily captured. She was scrappy enough, yet she was helpless against those guns. Then to be turned into a carrot of all this…she had a new dislike for rabbits.

They had left the town soon after Monster Carrot had been defeated by the Saiyans. Vegeta had been incredibly out of sorts, not speaking to any of them as they drove off and headed back into the mountainous terrain. He would only stare off into the distance. He didn’t spare her a glance. He didn’t even answer Goku when the little boy spoke. She wondered if he was thinking about what happened that day or the fact that they were almost finished with their mission.

There was only one Dragon Ball left to find.

Bulma knew what that meant, for she had been willing to give up her wish so that Vegeta’s could come to pass. She knew Vegeta was going to wish back his planet and people, and once that happened he would need to make a huge decision. He had to go back. He was a prince, there was no other choice, yet he had had all these visions about their future. As Bulma thought about the Saiyan leaving, she felt a pang in her heart. It made her feel sick, and she realized that it was a result of picturing Vegeta leaving, having to say goodbye.

She shook her head trying to get that thought out of her head. No, she couldn’t accept that at all. She couldn’t allow herself to be upset that Vegeta might leave. If she did, she would be admitting to what she had known all along since finding out about his visions, and she was just simply too young to accept that the prince would one day be her husband.

For crying out loud, she was only sixteen. _He_ was only sixteen, yet he acted far beyond his years. She sometimes wondered how far ahead these visions went, if he had the mind of an adult instead of a teenager because of them. Whatever he saw in these visions, he treated her like she was his only one and that was it. She didn’t know if she was ready for that type of commitment, even if they started off slow. Vegeta would always be looking ahead.

There was no other option. She needed to talk to him about the visions, even if she had to admit how she learned about them. It was a breach in trust, yes, but she couldn’t keep this bottled up inside her. There was no one else to talk to, not even the Saiyans. Goku didn’t know and was a naïve child. Nappa hated her. Raditz made sure to tell her if she hurt the prince that he would never let her off the hook. She needed to talk to Vegeta, alone.

Not surprisingly, she found him outside leaning against the capsule house as he looked out into the distance. He was brooding, his arms crossed as he watched the setting sun from the mountain ledge. He seemed so peaceful for a moment, but then he breathed out heavily through his nose. “Yes?”

Bulma was startled to hear such an even voice coming from a clearly overwhelmed individual. “Um, hi,” she greeted awkwardly before she moved to join him. His eyes never left her from and it only served to make her feel self-conscious. “So…not much longer, now, huh?”

“Seems to be,” Vegeta returned, but said nothing more.

The Earthling frowned at his curt response. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”

Vegeta pushed off the capsule house and moved to the edge of mountain. “What else is there to say?”

“Have you…have you put any thought into what happens after?”

The Saiyan snorted. Bulma had no idea just how much thought he had put into the aftermath. He reasoned from the beginning to go along with his visions, but then he and Bulma had had their misunderstanding and the visions of the human bandit came to him. At the same time, he saw planets Frieza was exterminating just to find him. He paled at the thought. It wouldn’t be that difficult to find Earth, especially if they noticed that Kakarot’s mission was not completed. Since Earth was some backwater planet, most likely it was not under PTO radar. Still, it was a big assumption to make.

He had started to grow more comfortable with the woman for she had been trying to reach out to him. With the bandit’s fear of Bulma, he had believed he had nothing to fear, but seeing him again today, being warned against Monster Carrot by _him_ , he wasn’t certain what he should do.

That was why he had to think on what he had to do when the wish business was over. If they succeeded in getting his planet and people back, Vegeta would leave with Nappa and Raditz. Kakarot could choose to go back with them or stay, but Vegeta would willingly leave Bulma behind. If she was meant to be with this bandit, if leaving would keep Frieza from ever harming her, Vegeta would go and remain alone. He would survive it, even if his body protested against it. As he had said before, he would not die until Frieza was brought down with him.

When Vegeta didn’t respond to her question, Bulma sighed and went to sit beside him looking out over the valley. “Vegeta…talk to me. You’ve been keeping too many secrets to yourself.” The prince was taken aback. What was Bulma talking about? “I…Vegeta, why didn’t you tell me about…about your visions?”

He hid his shock as he slowed tilted his head to look at her. “What?” his voice rasped, his features neutral.

Bulma looked away, and he could see that she felt shame for whatever it was she was about to tell him. “The night you were hurt…you mentioned to ‘Raditz’ that you had visions of the two of us together.” She chanced a look at him, but his expression was as stony as before. “It wasn’t Raditz you were talking to. I-I…didn’t mean to find out the way I did, and I’m sorry, but I did and I can’t take it back.”

She watched Vegeta’s expression turn grim. He got up to put distance between them, but not because he was angry with her. “That’s how you knew Frieza’s name,” Vegeta stated, his hand lying flat against the capsule home. “You knew it all.”

“Vegeta…”

His eyes cut deeply through her soul. He still wasn’t angry, but there was something there that concerned Bulma. She was honestly afraid to hear what he would say. “Don’t worry about the visions, Bulma. I will not hold you to them. You are free to leave or walk away whenever you want.”

Her heart broke when Vegeta said all of this. He really did care for her happiness, for her life. He didn’t want these visions to hold her back from living her life. She knew, though, what it would mean for him if she walked away. It would torment him. It could kill him. “I-I,” she nervously stuttered. “I don’t want to hurt you. I…can’t be the cause of anymore of your pain.”

Vegeta simply walked away, flying off into the distance, just wanting to be alone. Bulma watched him with concern etched on her features. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking, if he had heard her or took her words to heart. Sighing, Bulma went inside the capsule home, unaware that someone was lurking.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

_She just had to say that._

Vegeta shook his head to try to clear his mind, but it was next to impossible. He had just been trying to decide what to do after they made the wish. He had been fully prepared to leave Bulma behind, and then she had to seek him out and make him feel things, things he was certain she could not feel.

He was loyal to her, just because he had seen the life, felt the emotions at seeing those images. He wanted her, wanted to _be with her_ , but she had made it clear how she felt. Sure, lately, she had been trying to get to know him, but now he questioned whether or not she had been genuine. Bulma _knew_. She knew of the visions, of the monster he would have become. The prince didn’t know how she had come to feel anything for him, let alone care about what he was feeling or hurting him, but he did not intend to hold her to anything. She hardly knew him. She had never asked for this. She had just been a teenaged girl on a journey that he and the other Saiyans crashed. A small piece of him was feeling guilt over taking her wish, despite the fact that she said it hadn’t been important.

His mind kept torturing him and taunting him with images of the future he wanted with her, new ones, but he couldn’t tell if they were visions or if it was wishful thinking on his part based on what he already had seen. He closed his eyes and shook his head trying to shake off all of his feelings, but he couldn’t. They were consuming him.

It would definitely be best to leave when the time came. At first, he was thinking of leaving with Nappa and Raditz, to return home to their people if the wish came true, but Bulma reminding him of his visions opened another “can of worms,” as some humans said. Vegeta cringed. He was not a fan of those things.

But that was a proper analogy, because he hated what was in the figurative can. He had been so focused on saving his planet and people that he hadn’t taken the time to truly think about what it meant for him. When he thought of returning to his planet, he felt some joy but mostly he felt empty and hollow. After seeing what he would have become, even though his people had purged before, he did not feel like he belonged among them anymore. Part of it was because of how deranged he would have truly become, but the other part was because of the other life he saw, the Earthling life with Bulma. He did not have the same countenance as he had living among his people. He had two paths in front of him, thanks to this accursed power, that tore him away from his Saiyan heritage. On one side, he was the monster Frieza would have molded, and on the other, he was the Saiyan prince with no home who found a home on this backwater, beautiful planet with a beautiful, loving woman. He shook his head again. No, he didn’t belong on Planet Vegeta anymore, but he didn’t belong on Earth anymore either.

Vegeta surrendered to the idea of never returning home, regardless if he and Bulma became mates or not. He could never go back.

* * *

Back at the capsule house, two figures were skulking in the night with the skills of expert thieves.

“Ow, Mai, you stepped on my tail,” the smaller figure complained, and the tall woman with him hissed at him to be quiet.

Well, maybe not expert thieves…

But they were thieves, looking to steal the Dragon Balls the Saiyans had collected. Somehow, they knew they were there, possibly from spying on the warriors trying to resurrect their home.

The Dragon Balls were in a suitcase right by the door, making the two underlings of someone named Emperor Pilaf, an evil, cruel ruler who planned to gain immortality from the spheres, felt relief. They had been hunting the orbs themselves, too, not expecting anyone else to know the legends. Still, when they observed them from a distance, the group thought it would benefit them to let these strange and powerful beings collect the balls for them.

“Quick, Shu,” Mai ordered. “Grab the case and let’s get out of here. They could wake up at any second.”

“Yes, we could.”

Both Mai and Shu tensed, slowly turning to look around. The tall, long-haired stranger was glowering down at them with his arms crossed. “Now, explain what you’re doing here,” he demanded, though his eyes shifted to the case. He already probably guessed what they were there for, and he clearly felt anger, outstretching his hand getting ready to blast them, but, out of nowhere, smoke filled the room and burned the Saiyan’s eyes. Growling, Raditz attempted to strike them, but they had already escaped. “Wily little bastards.”

The smoke and the commotion alerted everyone in the capsule home waking them all from a deep sleep. Bulma’s coughs snapped everyone’s attention to the woman. “W…What,” Bulma choked out, “the hell…” A few more coughs left her. “…happened?”

“We should get outside, now,” Raditz suggested, pulling the woman through the smog. “Come on.”

They all followed, letting the home clear while Raditz was looking in the direction the two thieves fled after stealing the six Dragon Balls they had. “We need to get to them,” he growled.

“Who?” Oolong called out.

“The bastards that stole the Dragon Balls,” Raditz replied, pointing in another direction. “That was the direction where we were headed earlier, so it stands to reason that they have the last Dragon Ball. They must have been waiting to ambush them, but they don’t know what they’re up against. We are faster and more cutthroat than they are when backed into a corner. There is no way they’ll be able to make a wish before we get there.”

Goku spoke up. “But they can’t make a wish anyway. They don’t have all the Dragon Balls.”

Raditz’s hardened eyes met his brother’s wary ones. His expression softened, and he sighed. “What do you mean by that, Kakarot?”

“Well…” the young Saiyan murmured, debating on whether or not to tell his older brother what he had done. “I…I missed my grandpa. I know you said that his Dragon Ball wasn’t him, but I just felt like I wanted it close to me, so I went and took it after everyone went to bed. I know it was silly.”

The older Saiyan sighed ignoring how the former general rolled his eyes at the situation. “It’s fine, Kakarot,” he replied. “You taking the ball actually helps because now we have more time to catch up to them. You’re right. They can’t make the wish now.”

“They’ll find out sooner or later that we still have one,” Bulma pointed out.

“True,” Nappa remarked, looking back at the house. “We should capsulate this thing and start heading towards them.”

Bulma felt her heart twinge. “But…what about Vegeta? Someone needs to wait for him.”

“Please, princess,” Nappa scoffed, and Bulma flinched hearing the title. She wondered if the burly Saiyan was saying it genuinely or mockingly. “Vegeta is a big boy. He can handle himself. If he comes back to this spot and sees us gone, he’ll track our ki and find us. Best chance is to move forward and ambush them as they did us.”

Call her crazy, but Bulma didn’t like the idea of leaving Vegeta behind. Though, if she thought about it, the Saiyans were usually right when it came to Vegeta, his moods, and his actions. Maybe this time she should actually listen to them. Perhaps this was the first step into trusting them fully. “Well, okay, but if Vegeta asks, I’m blaming you.”

Nappa snorted, but he grinned. “Fine by me. I’d be happy to take the brat on any day.” Bulma could have sworn she heard a bit of affection in the Saiyan’s voice.

Then, out of nowhere, Bulma remembered something. “Oh no…my capsules were in that case, too!”

“No problem,” Nappa grunted. He grabbed Bulma causing her to shriek in surprise as he took off to the sky with her. Raditz followed suit, as did Goku who capsulated the house as he had seen Bulma do and grabbed Oolong. Much like in the past, none of the noticed that Yamcha was nearby in his car. He saw them fly overhead and decided to head after them. He wondered what had them flying so fast in the middle of the night.

* * *

A short while after the Saiyans, Bulma, and Oolong started their pursuit of the Dragon Ball thieves, Vegeta returned to the mountain to find them missing with no capsule house around. As Nappa had predicted, the prince immediately stretched out his senses and took off after the group, heading deeper into the rocky terrain. He had no idea why the others had left, but he knew the reasons had to be serious. He could only guess, that is, until a vision hit him, and it was so strong, too. Gripping his head, Vegeta watched as the youngest Saiyan of their group had been out in the full moon and would be an uncontrolled Oozaru.

Panic filled the Saiyan’s chest slightly. Normally such a vision would leave him unfazed. The problem was Bulma. She was with the other Saiyans, and she would be in danger if Kakarot started demolishing whatever was around them all. Nappa and Raditz would be her only chances to fight the young Saiyan off until the moon fell, but neither Saiyan had the best control over their Oozaru forms. He was the only one among them who had perfect control, and part of him wondered if it had anything to do with these visions of his. Maybe it kept a specific part of his mind awake at all times.

He looked to the sky, thankful that it is only dusk, the moon not fully visible. His gaze wandered to where the others had gone. He had time to make it, he hoped. Vegeta propelled himself into the air, using his ki to force him through the sky at an unprecedented speed.

He had to prevent this one from happening.

* * *

The group had made it to the out of place castle in the middle of nowhere and entered knowing that the ones who stole the Dragon Balls were inside. Yamcha had caught up with the Saiyans, him and Puar offering to help the others get their wish. Raditz and Nappa had demanded an answer as to why, but the human merely stated that he felt kind of invested, now, in seeing them get their wish. It was a strangely cryptic answer to explain that he had overheard them talking to Bulma about it before he had made his presence known. He wanted to help.

Once inside this Pilaf’s castle, the group had been trapped upon entering a room. They had been searching, and a wall appeared out of nowhere behind them. Both Bulma and Yamcha were concerned, but Nappa and Raditz simply exchanged bored looks before the long-haired Saiyan punched through the stone wall.

“H-How…?” Bulma stammered, shocked though she knew she shouldn’t be. She looked up at the taller man who wore such an impish grin as he shook his head.

Raditz hopped through the whole first to assist Bulma out of the supposed prison. After she and the others were out, the Saiyan felt a jolt in his heart and looked to Nappa who was wearing the same dumbfounded expression. The younger Saiyan looked out the window and could see that it was already night. His eyes widened. There had to be a full moon outside. None of them could go out there.

The humans and Goku were about to go outside when Raditz’s voice stopped them. “Wait,” he demanded, earning his brother’s confusion.

“Why?” Bulma questioned. “The radar says the Dragon Balls are outside. We can go and make the wish.”

“We need to wait out the night,” Nappa remarked, his voice dark. “If we go out…”

“I don’t understand,” Yamcha stated. “I thought you guys…”

“We will still make the wish, but we need to lie low for the night,” Raditz explained, looking over to the window. He sighed in frustration and shook his head. He knew that his brother was going to figure this out sooner or later, but he was hoping for much, _much_ later. “Kakarot, sit down, okay?” The little boy did as he was told, his tail gently swaying behind him. “Listen, all of you…we can’t go out in the full moon. If we did, it would not be good for any of you.”

“Why not?” Bulma asked.

“When the moon is full, the blutz waves are very strong, and they interact with our tails and cause us to transform into giant apes, the Oozaru transformation.”

“What?”

Raditz looked his brother in the eye, and Goku was already figuring things out. His eyes were wide and sad, and they were pleading, begging him to be lying. Unfortunately for the child, Raditz was telling the completely real and horrible truth. “Most Saiyans do not have control in the Oozaru state. Many don’t even remember anything they do during the transformation. Nappa and I don’t even have full control. Yes, we still retain our memories and such, but we can still be very destructive because of the instincts. The only one I know to have ever had complete mastery of the transformation is Vegeta.”

“Y…You’re lying,” Goku whispered, not wanting to believe it was true. He looked to the four star ball he was still holding with tears in his eyes. He then grew very angry, with Raditz for telling him this, but mostly with himself for what he had done. He didn’t want to accept it, and he couldn’t come to grips with it. “I don’t believe you!” he shouted before he got up and ran for the door. He needed to get away, so he just went in any direction he could, and the only direction he could go was outside.

Raditz had tried to grab the boy, but he was too fast. He would have attempted to pursue him, but the result would have been that he himself would have transformed, and that would have been just as bad. “Damn it…”

The two humans and two shapeshifters watched in horror as the young boy transformed before their very eyes. Nappa and Raditz pulled them away from the door, Bulma attempting to fight them. She looked to Raditz for he was the one who had pulled her away. “T-There has to be something we can do…”

Nappa scoffed. “Did you not hear Raditz? We don’t have the best control over our own inner beasts. Even though I was the general of our race, the only control I have is deciding what to smash and when. The only shot we have to preventing Kakarot from demolishing everything around us is Vegeta. We have to hope that he’s already on his way.”

That really wasn’t the answer Bulma was hoping to receive.

* * *

It was after Goku had fled outside that he had dropped the four star Dragon Ball, and his transformation had all of the Saiyans distracted that they hadn’t noticed. Because of this, Emperor Pilaf, a little, blue creature, was able to take it almost without being noticed.

Bulma was the first to notice the little cretin trying to take the orb. She wanted to stop him, but Raditz saw her shift in stance. He knew she was going to try to make a run for it, but he couldn’t let her. Not while his brother was out of control like this. Vegeta would never forgive him.

“We have to stop him!” she argued, trying to fight Raditz off.

The Saiyan shook his head. “Bulma, don’t. I know what this means, but you can’t go out there. If you do, Kakarot might kill you without any knowledge of it, just like his grandfather. He just learned it now and felt incredibly guilty. He wasn’t thinking, felt trapped, and now he’s lost to his instincts. Most Saiyans could accept that it’s the fault of the transformation and not bat an eye no matter who they kill. Kakarot is not like that. I don’t want him to have the guilt of killing _two_ people he cared about on his conscience.”

The blue-haired Earthling frowned, her eyes soft as she looked out at the giant ape stomping and crushing all the rocks. She knew Raditz was right, and she didn’t want to put that on the little boy. He was innocent in all of this. She breathed out deeply. “Fine, I’ll stay, but it may not even matter if he turns his attention on this castle.”

Raditz didn’t say anything, but he did agree with that statement. He heard Nappa sigh and turned his attention to the general. “It probably was never meant to be, anyway,” he spoke brokenly. “The wish, I mean. It’s probably not even possible.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Bulma stated. “Who knows? Maybe Goku can subdue them for a while so they can’t make their wish.”

“Here’s hoping…” Raditz murmured, looking back out at his brother.

* * *

Vegeta had flown faster than he ever thought possible, doing his best to keep himself from transforming. Normally, he wouldn’t be able to fight what his body was trying to do, but he needed to get there. He only needed to hold it long enough so that he could fly to the spot where Kakarot was.

The prince had finally arrived to the spot, landing unceremoniously and breathing hard as he continued to fight his body. He could see Kakarot going nuts not too far from him. He would need to transform and knock him out hard enough so he would sleep until the next morning. Stretching out his senses, he could tell that Bulma was still alive and was relieved, though he also sensed the energy of the human fool near his woman and it infuriated him.

No, he didn’t have time for that, he berated himself. His focus shifted not to the other human, but to protect his woman. He finally succumbed to the moon’s light washing over him, allowing himself to transform into the mighty Oozaru. Instantly, he went to the other ape and tried to restrain him. Goku fought back against him, surprisingly, but it didn’t matter. He would stop him.

It was then his eyes shifted, as he held Goku in place, and her saw three figures standing off at a distance. They set the Dragon Balls down in front of them, and, after some overdramatic hand waves, they summoned the dragon. Vegeta was shocked. Of course, he completely believed Bulma. He knew that the quest had merit, that they’d possibly use these spheres at other times. Seeing it, though, was amazing. Vegeta stared at the creature, slightly awed by the aura the dragon gave off. Kakarot nearly escaped his hold for a moment, the prince’s attention returning to the other Oozaru.

He couldn’t let those bastards get the wish. He needed to stop them. He forced the other Saiyan back for a moment, dazing him, and then shot a blast towards the rock where Pilaf and his gang were standing. They all collided to the ground, and that was when Vegeta called out, his voice deep, loud, and beastlike.

“Dragon.” The magical lizard shifted its focus to him.

“State your wish so that I may return to my slumber.”

“Grg,” Vegeta grunted as Goku finally started fighting back again, wrestling him. “I wish for my planet, Planet Vegeta, and its people to be restored.”

There was a moment of silence. “This, I cannot do.”

“What?”

“There are some things even I, the mighty Shenron, cannot do,” the dragon explained. “I only have as much power as my creator. For example, I could restore the planet itself, but the people of your world have been deceased for over a decade and life cannot be restore to them. If you would like me to restore the planet, that wish can be granted.”

 _Damn it,_ Vegeta thought bitterly. He didn’t know what to decide. Learning this disheartened him, making him feel a pang of devastation. On one hand, he wanted his planet back, but on the other all the Saiyans would be dead save Nappa, Raditz, and Kakarot. They would be alone, and Vegeta didn’t know if it was even worth it. Still, was it just his decision to make? What would Nappa and Raditz want? It was their planet, too. It just wouldn’t be worth it to wish the planet back and leave it barren. He mentally scoffed at his own indecision, especially when the dragon expressed his impatience.

What else could he wish for? To be honest, there was nothing else he wanted except for Frieza to be destroyed, and he doubted the dragon’s creator had enough strength to match Frieza. No, he couldn’t wish for that. So what else?

His mind wandered to Bulma, who was selflessly giving up her wish for them. This had been her journey from the beginning. The only reason he had learned of these orbs were because of her. She had told them what they were, what they could do. She built the radar to find them. He knew the woman from his visions, and she wouldn’t be using them frivolously. “I wish for the fulfillment of Bulma’s truest wish.”

“This, I cannot do, for her wish has already been fulfilled.”

Well, that wasn’t a cryptic enough answer. She had already received her wish? How? When? What was it? He highly doubted it was becoming a carrot for a day.

Vegeta was so confused by this claim, but it didn’t matter if the dragon couldn’t grant it. He had to think of something else. Vegeta’s mind finally was pulled back into his battle with Kakarot, and the answer became clear. “Then I wish for the moon to be fully covered up for the rest of the night. Just tonight.”

“A pathetically simple wish,” Shenron scoffed. Well, Vegeta had tried to have more complicated wishes granted, but the lizard couldn’t do either. Either way, this wish would work out. The moon would disappear, and Kakarot would return to normal without having to cause any lasting damage. Bulma would be safe.

Moments later, cloud coverage took over, and it prevented any light from penetrating. Vegeta could feel himself returning to normal size, though, when Kakarot did, his clothes were all torn up. The prince was at least thankful for his armor.

It was when the two had finally shrunken down when the dragons voice boomed, “I have granted your wish. Farewell.”

The seven spheres launched themselves in the sky, turning to white stone, and they scattered in different directions. It appeared the hunt of the dragon balls had been completed, and it left the prince with conflicted feelings. And he wasn’t the only one.

Goku slowly returned to his senses, his body shaky as he returned to his size. He couldn’t remember what had happened, but he was outside. If what Raditz said was true, he wouldn’t remember anything. What did he do? Who did he hurt?

“Kakarot.”

The little Saiyan looked up to the prince with wary, horror-filled eyes. “V-Veggie.”

Vegeta knelt down beside the boy, his demeanor kind and soft as he placed a hand on the child’s bare shoulder. “Do not be afraid,” he ordered lightly. “You are a Saiyan, and it is beneath you.”

“B-But I,” Goku murmured. “I killed my Grandpa.”

Vegeta’s expression grew grim. He pulled the boy close to him. “I’m responsible for the death of my people,” he whispered to the boy. “I would have killed many others…on purpose. What you did was an accident. You’re grandfather knew if he told you not to go out. He holds no ill will towards you. He would want you to remain the bright, happy-go-lucky child you are, unburdened.”

“Really?” Goku asked, pulling back. When Vegeta nodded, the young Saiyan smiled, joy returning to his eyes. “Thanks, Veggie. But…what did you mean before? About killing others. You wouldn’t do that.”

The prince chuckled weakly, ruffling the boy’s hair. “Keep that naivety, kid. It suits you.”

“But Veggie…”

“Vegeta!”

The two Saiyans turned to see the rest of their friends and some stragglers coming towards them, though Bulma was running towards the prince at an alarming speed. She nearly jumped to reach him, Vegeta catching her in his arms as she embraced him and squeezed him tightly. He couldn’t help but blush at the contact and at her display. His tail wrapped around her waist without any prompting which was even more embarrassing. He had no control around this woman. That was going to make distancing himself much harder.

“So,” Raditz remarked. “What happened, and why is it possible for us to be out now?”

Vegeta’s expression soured, and he looked away from his men and shook his head. “The wish…we wouldn’t have been able to bring back the people,” he explained, causing Bulma to gasp and pull away. He refused to meet her eyes.

“What?” Nappa nearly spat. “Why?”

Vegeta scoffed. “They have been gone too long. Had we known about the orbs when it first happened, it would have been possible.”

“No,” Raditz breathed out shaking his head before meeting Vegeta’s eyes. “So you wished for the moon to be covered up instead.” Vegeta didn’t answer, but Raditz already knew when he looked down to Bulma. It was possible he had tried to have her wish granted, but he doubted the woman had wished for the moon to be shrouded. That only meant her wish was unable to be granted as well.

“What happened to the Dragon Balls, anyway?” Goku asked, confused, his head tilting slightly.

“They turned to stone and dispersed.”

Goku looked panicked at this. “But I have to get Grandpa!”

Raditz sighed in frustration at the words, but he thought better to correct him after what he had revealed to his brother that night. He had been through enough.

“It’s okay,” Bulma assured the boy, pulling completely away from Vegeta, his tail almost reluctant to release her. “The Dragon Balls will remain inactive for a year, but next year you’ll be able to find them again. Here.”

Goku was excited when Bulma gave him her radar she made. She showed him how to use it so that he could when the time came. He could search until he found the four star ball. “Thank you.”

“Of course, kid,” Bulma replied, smiling.

“I’ll go with Kakarot when the time comes,” Raditz told the others. “I’m sure he could handle himself, but…”

“We understand,” Vegeta replied, though Nappa scoffed at the teenager speaking for him. “We will worry about training until then, and, when you do leave, Nappa and I will continue.”

“Training? Why do you have to train?” Oolong snorted. “You’re already stronger than the majority of the people on this planet.”

The three Saiyans exchanged a secretive glance that both Yamcha and Bulma noticed.

“You’re still welcome to come stay at my place,” Bulma offered them all, surprising everyone. “You can use our training equipment. Vegeta already knows this, but my dad in the leading inventor on this planet and you would have access to equipment even the government doesn’t have access to. What do you say?”

Vegeta didn’t know what to say. To be honest, he was hesitant to accept the offer considering he wasn’t sure where he stood with her, not to mention that Yamcha was standing right there staring at him. He realized that, when it came to the weakling, his visions were toying with him, showing him what could have been if he kept distancing himself from the woman. Once he started playing along with all of her “getting to know you” stuff, visions of the two humans had not come to him or haunted him.

Yamcha was growing wary of the Saiyan for his intense gaze had not left him once. He could swear Vegeta was glaring at him. “Um, listen,” he nervously spoke, “I’m kind of sorry you didn’t get your wish. I overheard them mentioning what was going on when we all met up in the castle. Who would have thought you guys were aliens?”

Oolong whispered to Puar, “Who’s idiotic enough to think that they aren’t?” Puar hissed at the pig to shut up, defending his friend.

“Anyway,” Yamcha continued, “I can’t really imagine what’s up out there, but just…if you ever need assistance, I’d help any way I can.”

Vegeta stared upon the human in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that he was offering his help, especially not knowing the dangers the future truly held. When that time came, there would be nothing the human could even hope to accomplish. The prince scoffed at him and crossed his arms. Yamcha wore an understanding grin before he told Puar it was time to go. The bandit and the cat took their leave; however, Vegeta was fairly certain that they’d see them again…regrettably.

“Hey,” Bulma called to the prince, smiling fondly. “We should start heading home. It’s a trip.”

As Bulma said the word “home,” Vegeta was shaken to his core. He started to mentally count the amount of visions where she had said the words “let’s go home.” What was crazier was that he felt that connected to the place, a place with Bulma. He looked to her and nodded, finally prepared to move onto the next phase of his life.

_Home._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: *Releases a long, exasperated sigh* Finally! The first hunt for the Dragon Balls is over. Give your predictions as to what happens next.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

Days didn’t get any better than what he was experiencing. Bright sun, crashing waves, and almost complete isolation…it was exactly how Roshi liked it. Ever since he retired from the training game, he had many peaceful days like this. Sometimes he relaxed outside, much like he was doing on this beautiful day, and others he involved himself in other sorts of recreation, like watching some _interesting_ training shows. His turtle friend was not a fan of those.

Roshi had been enjoying his retirement for many years hardly ever wondering what it would be like to train new blood. Of course, recently, after seeing one of his old students again, not to mention Gohan’s grandson, memories had been spurred causing him to reflect on his past and his long life. Even though his current days were peaceful, the best days had been when he trained those two. The thought had never occurred to him, that there was something missing from his life.

“Hello! Master Roshi, I’m here!”

Eyes opened and landed on a little boy flying on the orange cloud he gave him, his brother following close beside him, both landing on the small island. The turtle hermit rose from his lounge chair. “Ah, Goku,” he greeted before looking from the jovial boy to the serious Saiyan. “And your brother. I don’t think I ever got your name, son.”

“It’s Raditz,” he responded, “and don’t call me ‘son.’”

Roshi’s attention shifted back to Goku. “So, what can I do for you, Goku?”

“I want you to train me!” the child chimed excitedly, his fists clenched out in front of him. He seemed to have a lot of vigor. It reminded Roshi of what he was thinking before the young Saiyan showed up. Of course, he couldn’t just accept Goku as a student right off the bat. He needed to save face, make it seem like the child needed to work just to be trained, perhaps to see how far he’d go for it.

“And why should I train you?” Roshi questioned. “What do you have to offer me?”

Goku’s expression fell, but Raditz filled the human in on the dire need of training. “It is necessary for the safety of this planet and the universe for you to train him.”

That earned the hermit’s attention. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah,” Goku said while vigorously nodding. “We’re training to fight a really strong Tyran guy.”

“Tyrant, Kakarot,” Raditz corrected. “The word is tyrant.” His attention shifted back to the old man. “I probably don’t have to tell you that we’re not of this world.”

“No, you do not,” Roshi agreed. “In fact, I know how my student, Gohan, came to find this boy. He found him in a field near a strange pod, and he even told me about how the child had a tail. He took him in even though he had a bit of a terror streak. He told me that the boy’s disposition changed after he hit his head from a fall.”

Raditz gave a curt nod, making sense of all of the information. “We are called the Saiyans, and, a decade ago, our planet was destroyed by a vicious tyrant who we had loyally served for years as mercenaries, space pirates, technically. We acquired and destroyed many words in his name, and we had received word that he was coming for our prince, Vegeta. We escaped here and were reunited with Kakarot much later. But the tyrant, Frieza…he’s still out there, and is most likely still hunting us.” He didn’t want to tell the man about Vegeta’s visions or the fact that Frieza was definitely still looking for them. “It’s imperative that we keep training so that we can one day defeat him and stop his criminal reign.”

The turtle hermit looked down to the little boy who didn’t seem fazed by the tale. In fact, he was already looking around the island with a bright smile. Roshi knew he was a pure soul. He was able to sit on the Flying Nimbus when Roshi himself could not, and he had been found as a baby which indicated to the man that Goku had never been involved with thing purging lifestyle to which his brother had confessed.

Roshi’s skeptical eyes went to the older Saiyan, Raditz averting his eyes. “He’s looking to be trained,” he stated, “and he wanted to come to you since you had trained his grandfather.”

That didn’t surprised the turtle hermit, but he was completely taken aback by the alien’s simple statement and agreeable attitude. “Wouldn’t you want to train your own, especially if you’re going up against someone so powerful?”

A frustrated sigh left Raditz, his pride taking a hit as he admitted, “The way we were trained is not necessarily the best way. Kakarot should not be trained that way.”

“You keep saying that,” Goku said with a pout. “Was it really that bad?” Then he started to get excited. “Wait, does that mean it’s tougher? Do I get to fight strong guys?”

Roshi and Raditz exchanged secretive glances, and Roshi nodded to the Saiyan, a silent agreement that he would train the boy. “Not exactly,” Raditz replied kneeling down in front of his brother. His stern eyes met curious, confused orbs. “The Saiyans didn’t always fight for training, and many got incredibly hurt. That’s not the best way to train.”

“With my way,” Roshi started, earning Little Goku’s attention, “you will eventually be taking place in a tournament where you will be able to fight many strong competitors.”

“Alright!” Goku cheered, leaping up in the air. “When do we start?”

Roshi was about to answer when Raditz spoke up. “The sooner, the better. We have no idea how long we have. You should start now.”

“Now wait just a minute,” Roshi snapped at the Saiyan before Goku pointed out to the sea.

“Look, Master Roshi,” the boy stated. “It looks like someone is coming this way.”

“What? Is it turtle?”

“No, it’s someone in a boat,” Goku observed before looking at Raditz. “That’s what they’re called, right?”

Raditz smirked and nodded. “Yeah, Kakarot. That’s a boat.”

“Cool!” the little boy cheered. “I’ve never seen one up close before.”

Roshi looked down to the easily fervent child before looking back out into the water. There was another young boy on the boat, a bald boy that looked like he had come from a temple considering the clothes he wore. He stayed quite a bit away, but he used that as a way to show off his power. The boy jumped from the boat and managed to reach above the island, though his trajectory was slightly off and he landed face first into the sand.

“Who’s the goof?” Roshi questioned, not giving any inkling to how impressed he was by this young boy’s jump. He looked to Goku. “Better help him, kid.”

Goku did so, the young child coughing up sand but casting the Saiyan child a wary glance before putting his guard back up and dusting himself off. Raditz watched the exchange, amused, especially when Goku blinked in confusion as if he were trying to get a read off of this new character.

The boy’s attention shifted to the turtle hermit, and he grinned. “Ah, you’re the great Master Roshi, right?”

Roshi nodded. “People tell me that.”

“Master,” the boy said, standing straight and tall, “my name’s Krillin, and I’ve come all the way from a village in the east. Please allow me to be your humble student and learn fight like you.”

The turtle hermit considered this, looking over towards Goku who still looked stupefied and interested in this new, young fighter. “Well, that’s a long way to come,” the master replied, “but unfortunately, I do not train every boy who shows up at my door.” Goku looked over to Roshi, alerted. Did that mean he really wasn’t really going to train him, either? Roshi looked away from the boys. “Sorry.”

There was a determined gleam to Krillin’s eye before he took out a magazine and held it out for the hermit. Roshi’s brow quirked in a combination of interest and surprise. Where would this kid get something like that? Raditz could see what was going on from his position, his mouth dropping open slightly before he grunted in disgust. “Maybe some quiet reading would change your mind?”

Roshi snatched up the magazine faster than lightning, and Raditz merely shook his head. This was not only a waste of time, but very uncouth. He looked where his younger brother was standing, the child looking very perplexed with his eyes crossed, one brow quirked and a look of quiet scrutiny taking over his features.

“I brought it just for you,” Krillin stated before looking over to the other child. “So, who are you, anyway? His pupil?”

Goku beamed at the other child and pointed to himself. “Yeah, I’m Goku.”

Krillin seemed skeptical, taking in the boy’s features and cheery disposition. “Doesn’t seem that you like fighting,” he remarked.

“I like marshmallows,” Goku replied, making a joke.

Krillin actually found himself chuckling at that. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Goku started laughing at that, and Raditz found himself smirking. It seemed like his little brother had made a friend, pretty quickly, too. He could see it in the boy’s eyes, young Goku’s instincts already claiming this kid as his comrade. “Don’t let his chummy disposition fool you,” he warned, earning both boy’s attentions. “Fighting’s in the kid’s blood.”

“Hm?” Krillin hummed, eyes widening before looking back at Goku. The young Saiyan had his arms adjoined behind his head and a kind smile on his face.

“Alright,” Roshi finally said, “Krillin, after careful consideration, I’ve decided to take you on as my pupil, but only if you and Goku can go and find me a girl. I trust you know the kind I like.”

Raditz deadpanned. Could this man really be serious, especially after what the older Saiyan had told him earlier? Maybe this was a bad idea…

After a failed attempt of Krillin getting onto the Nimbus cloud, the obvious reason being the extra magazines in his pack, the two boys set off to find a girl for this supposed master. Raditz scoffed and moved to lean against the house, arms crossed. He couldn’t believe that _this_ was what the turtle hermit had been asking for in the beginning. It was disgraceful.

Roshi appeared next to the Saiyan, concealing his presence for the moment that it shocked Raditz, the Saiyan putting distance between them and getting into a defensive stance. “Impressive,” Roshi called out, “and to be honest, not the reaction I expected. Now that we’re alone, I want you to tell me more about this tyrant.”

Raditz was astonished. He hadn’t expected to hear the hermit speak those words. So, sending the boys away had been a ploy to get more information, probably the darker, grittier version that Raditz had not described in front of his younger brother. As the Saiyan told the tale of the evil Arcosian, Frieza, he could see the horror Roshi tried to hide behind his dark glasses. He wondered if this man’s training would even be worth it for his brother.

No, this was definitely the better way for Kakarot to learn, Raditz concluded. He would now have a rival closer to his strength. This other child, this human boy, it was a startling surprise, but he was as strong as the third-class Saiyan. He and the other Saiyans were too strong for Kakarot at this current stage, so it was best for him to learn the basics up, and it would be more beneficial for him to learn from someone who would keep his safety in mind. Roshi admitted to Raditz that his methods would not be as violent or bring the results as quickly as Saiyan methods, but that was fine because Goku would still improve. Raditz decided to stay back and watch for the rest of the day, and maybe the week, to see what exactly the old man had to teach. Eventually, he’d need to leave and continue his own training. For now, though, they still had time. Vegeta would have told him otherwise.

* * *

Nappa scoffed as he looked down at the cars down below him. It had been a long time since he was in a city like this, probably not since his last purge ten years prior. The former general shook his head, the sting of the recent disappointment still gripping his heart. He had known from the beginning that the girl’s words could not be trusted, but he had thought all of it was a load of bull. No, she could not be blamed for their current moods. She had really tried to help them.

The Saiyans had gotten their hopes up, more specifically Vegeta. When the dragon could not grant their wish, it was like the prince had lost his home and people all over again. The despair Vegeta felt was evident after they had all reconvened in that wasteland. Bulma, though, she seemed to have a positive effect on the prince that Nappa hadn’t expected. The moment she had embraced Vegeta, Nappa could see affection in the prince’s eyes, not to mention slight embarrassment at their proximity. As she said the word “home,” Vegeta’s expression lit for a fraction of a second. It was hard to believe that their strong prince had fallen for a weakling human, but it was reality. Bulma was his destined future mate, and as such it was his duty to respect and protect her. That was going to be a challenge…

They finally reached a dome-shaped building in the city, Bulma parking out front and gazing at it longingly. “Well, that’s home,” she stated happily. “I hope that my parents won’t be too mad.”

Vegeta regarded the woman who looked fairly nervous. “It will be fine,” he assured her. “They accept your adventurous side.”

“Really?” Bulma asked, shocked. “I mean, I’m pretty sure they’ll ground me or something, but are they really okay with it? Do I go out on adventures like that again?”

The Saiyan’s eyes met hers, and she nearly gasped at the intensity. “Yes.”

His simple answer caused a small smile to appear on Bulma’s face. “I take it you’ll be there too, right?” Vegeta hesitated, but nodded. “I’m glad. I really do want to get to know you. I know you told me not to worry about the visions, but I do slightly. I just want to take things slowly, if that’s okay, but I’m not opposed to getting to know you.”

Vegeta was surprised by Bulma’s boldness at bringing his abilities up, but then he smirked. He really shouldn't have been, considering the knowledge he had of her. She was headstrong and stubborn, much like he was, and they fit well together because of it. Truthfully, he had wanted to distance himself, but his instincts didn't was that. Maybe her “getting to know you” thing wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Despite what he had seen, he didn’t know everything about her. “Fine, woman,” he replied, his voice sincere.

At that moment, Nappa landed next to them startling Bulma and slightly annoying Vegeta. The prince was certain that Nappa had been waiting for them to finish talking meaning that he was listening in. He narrowed his eyes, but Nappa seemed unfazed. He looked around the city and then to the house. “So this is it, huh?”

Bulma recovered quickly and nodded. “Yup, this is my place. We have a lot of space here out back where you guys can train, plus some facilities actually in the house…just, no ki blasts inside, please.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Vegeta stated. “Thank you, for allowing us to stay. We will treat this place with respect.”

Nappa’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he heard that, his eyes shifting to Bulma. Vegeta rarely ever thanked anyone, but clearly he knew the effect it would have on the woman, and so he made that sacrifice just to bring that joy to her. “Come on,” she said softly. “Let me show you around.”

* * *

After Bulma had brought them inside, they were immediately introduced to Bulma’s mother and father, two figures who Vegeta had known very well from his visions. He had been mentally prepared for the chaos upon entering from the inquisitive interest of Dr. Briefs to the incessant chattering and attention from Panchy, the latter of whom demanded they be on a first name basis with her. Vegeta nearly laughed at his mentor’s irritation, especially because he intended to make his escape with Bulma and Dr. Briefs as they showed the prince around their lab.

After about a half hour, Nappa finally joined them, glaring at Vegeta who merely shrugged and continued listening to Dr. Briefs talk about some of the equipment they already had for training. Nappa was less than impressed by the tech the humans had to offer, but Vegeta had seen what they’d eventually come up with in the future. This was all a stepping stone for the more advanced technology that Vegeta would grow to abuse and claim as his own.

Nappa leaned down to Vegeta, whispering in his ear. “What are we doing wasting our time on this primitive crap?”

Bulma overheard, but noticed that Vegeta ignored the words from the older Saiyan. She had felt slighted when she heard Nappa utter such insulting remarks on the technology her father had spent his whole life creating. It was the most advanced technology they had ever had, only recently released to the military. Her pride was a little shaken when Nappa made his claim for she had been the lead engineer on the project earlier in the year. To hear that it was “primitive” in the Saiyans’ mind made her feel small.

But Vegeta still hadn’t reacted to the burly Saiyan’s words, and instead he walked over to Dr. Briefs and engaged the man in conversation on the invention asking very insightful questions about the technology, what materials they used and even some of the physics behind the projects. Nappa’s mouth fell open in shock, and Bulma couldn’t help but take delight in his stupor. She listened in as Vegeta and her father started discussing ideas for future training equipment and even battle droids. Eventually, Nappa got bored and demanded that Bulma show him where he could find a place to rest, ignoring Vegeta’s pointed glare. Once Vegeta and the old man were alone, Dr. Briefs said to him in a hushed voiced, “I’m interested in all the ideas you have for this, of course, but you’re better off asking Bulma of it.”

“Why are we whispering?” Vegeta said looking around the room. There was no one else there.

The kind doctor chuckled when he realized that he was behind the closed doors of his home. “Truthfully, son,” the man stated causing Vegeta to feel a jolt, “I just want my daughter to have a normal childhood. She’s a genius, you know, and beyond her years. This device you’re looking at was the first project she ever researched and completed on her own.” Vegeta seemed surprised, but he wasn’t that jilted by the information. He knew the woman was a genius even though she tried to hide it. Still, he had no idea that her first solo project was a device the military could use for drills. That was amazing.

“I don’t enjoy taking credit for this,” the doctor continued, “but even Bulma wanted to enjoy teenaged years just a little more before it came out publicly that she’s been assisting me with all of my projects. Capsules were always my first priority, my baby, but most of the training equipment for the government and all were her ideas. I hardly wanted to get involved with it, but because of my expertise it was expected of me by the masses.”

Once again, Vegeta was astounded. The piece of equipment from his visions, a room that would increase gravity for whoever was inside it, was a project Dr. Briefs had completed that Bulma had completely taken over when it involved him. He had known she was a genius because of it, but after hearing what her father had said, realization hit him and he now knew that Bulma probably did a lot of the research on it which is why she would have been able to make it her project easily.

A thought occurred to him. What if he were to tell her about the gravity chamber sooner rather than later? He had already breached whatever vision protocol there was by admitting to her that they would become something, and now whatever was supposed to happen would probably occur much earlier. To be honest, Vegeta didn’t see how soon or how far into the future his visions of them together we're supposed to reflect. Perhaps things would change. After all, he hadn’t been a murderous child or teenager and completely bypassed that destiny. In that case, he could bring the project up to Bulma, and maybe she’d be able to build it much faster. If she could, that would commensurate to more time in training. One day, Vegeta would have to stand against Frieza. It was better to take any advantage now.

That being said, he knew what he had to do.

* * *

Bulma sighed and tossed a crumpled up piece of paper into her trash bin. Ever since she had shown Nappa to his room, she had been trying to focus on the ideas Vegeta had had. Because she knew of his visions, part of her felt like anything he had suggested was related to them. It meant that she would ultimately end up creating those, but she still hadn’t the faintest idea how.

It had been her fifth schematic toss out which had frustrated her immensely. Vegeta was counting on her, she knew, which made her inadequacy beyond infuriating. There was a monster out there somewhere in the universe looking for the Saiyans. Failure was not an option.

There wasn’t much she could do now with a headache. Her eyes shifted to her clock, and she realized she had skipped lunch entirely. Well, maybe she should take a break. She was only human, after all.

So she finally reached the kitchen so that she could get some fuel for herself, and she found her mother happily humming along as she went between the many ovens they had. Bulma had told the woman of the Saiyan’s appetites, so she had been in the kitchen all day cooking a large spread of food, all from meat to veggie dishes to seafood, not to mention desserts. The teenager had told her mother to keep the meats as rare as possible keeping in mind what Vegeta had told her at the start of their journey. They received more nutrition from eating raw meat, but if they kept it rare that should be enough.

“Oh, hello, sweetie,” her mother greeted. “You’ve been holed up in your room all day. Are you feeling okay? Was your trip too rough?”

Bulma smiled at that. Vegeta had been right when he said her parents accepted the fact that she was adventurous, but it didn’t stop them from expressing their concern. She ended up not being grounded; however, both parents demanded that net time she tell them instead of sneaking out so that they would be able to make sure she was okay. That was something she could agree to easily.

“Nah, that’s not it, mom,” Bulma assured her. “I was just trying to work on training equipment for Vegeta and Nappa. It hasn’t been going well.”

“Oh!” Panchy exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Those boys are just such hard workers. I had to practically force them in for lunch, though they really are well-built, aren’t they. I couldn’t even push them an inch. That nice boy, Vegeta, finally just walked in. They certainly are strong and muscular.”

Bulma mentally groaned. She was no stranger to her mother’s crazy chattering, especially if she noticed a good-looking guy. It wasn’t that Bulma hadn’t noticed those same good looking guys, but her mother was just so embarrassing about it. She could see earlier that Nappa had been less than thrilled with her mother. Vegeta seemed to tolerate the blonde, but Bulma was reminded that he probably had known before walking through the door. Her cheeks burned red in realization. What else did Vegeta know about her and her family? For the first time, she realized that Vegeta probably had knowledge of her in many compromising positions. Her earlier frustrations were forgotten as she went to pour herself some of her glorious coffee trying to keep images out of her mind that she shouldn’t even be considering.

“So, _is_ something going on between you and Vegeta?”

At that, Bulma had regretted taking a sip for the coffee spewed anywhere. She looked to her mother, appalled. How could the woman ask her daughter that in a way that was completely accepting? The woman had to realize that if there truly was anything going on it probably wasn’t the best idea for her daughter to invite the other teenager into their home. Bulma couldn’t confirm it. Her parents weren’t normal, but even they would probably want Vegeta to find other sleeping arrangements for the night, right? She had to play it off. Vegeta had nowhere else to go. “No, mom, he’s just a friend,” Bulma tried, but her mother didn’t seem to be listening.

“He’s just such a nice boy,” she said in wonder, clasping her hands together in front of her, her voice dreamy. “It’s not hard to notice how strong and handsome and dedicated he is. Why, if I were your age…oh, but what am I saying. I’m a married woman.”

Panchy simply giggled at her remark before she walked away for the moment giving Bulma a momentary reprieve while mentally asking herself what had just happened. Was her mother giving her daughter her blessing to pursue Vegeta, or was it something else? It was the latter, Bulma decided, for her mother was certainly _something else_.

It wouldn’t be long before Panchy would return to the kitchen, so Bulma decided to play it safe and hightailed it out of the house into the backyard. There, she stumbled across a sight she wasn’t expect, Nappa and Vegeta sparring outside, most likely training. Bulma realized that during their journey, she hadn’t really seen the Saiyans train, though that was probably because their minds were solely on getting their people and planet back. She felt awful that their wish couldn’t be granted.

As she continued to watch Vegeta, his brow furrowed in avid concentration. He seemed so determined, taking and avoiding hits from the general while throwing his own blows. The two continued their crazy exchange of hits, moving faster than Bulma could even follow. Her eyes widened. They were amazing, Vegeta especially with his fortitude and resolve. Bulma couldn’t take her eyes off of the prince.

The next thing she knew, Vegeta had struck Nappa so hard that he was knocked to the ground leaving a small crater in the backyard. Bulma whistled, clearly impressed and astounded. Well, their landscaper was going to be paid well now that they had Saiyans living there with them. She didn't exactly mind that. Watching them fight had been pretty exhilarating, and she hadn’t even been able to fully follow it.

Nappa recovered, sitting up in a pile of dirt, the haze disappearing around him. He looked up to see Vegeta staring down at the crater, his arms crossed. His eyes were so hardened and distant that continuing the fight would be pointless. Rubbing the back of his head, he stood up and chuckled. “I call uncle,” he joked with the prince.

Vegeta’s eyes snapping back into reality. During the fight, his mind had shifted to thoughts of Frieza. At one point, it was like the cruel monarch was standing right in front of him. He couldn’t believe his senses had gone so far out of control. When Nappa had been struck down, Vegeta hadn’t seen his Saiyan mentor. It made sense that Nappa would want to throw in the towel, and the former general probably wanted an explanation. Still, Vegeta would play off his disappointment in himself. Nappa didn’t need to know what had happened. Vegeta would not let it keep happening.

He needed to cool down. Visions of Frieza came to him all the time, but it didn’t mean anything. There was still time, decades possibly, before they would ever come into contact with the Arcosian again, sooner if they decided to go in search of him. As long as they stayed off the radar, they’d have ample time to train, possibly go after the Dragon Balls once again if needed. Yes, that was a good idea, Vegeta figured as he went to grab a bottle of water Bulma’s mother had given him earlier.

The cool liquid poured down his throat and felt refreshing and soothing, and it did serve to help calm him. He didn’t know what caused him to look towards the back door, but he was stuck by Bulma’s watchful gaze. Beside himself, every muscle in his body relaxed. He didn’t even mind that the woman had been shamelessly staring at him. In response, he smirked at the woman, and she smiled and blushed having been caught staring. “Hey,” she greeted warmly. “Looks like you’re taking a break.”

“Hm,” Vegeta grunted, finishing off the water and tossing the bottle aside. “We are. Is there something you wanted?”

Bulma’s eyes fluttered, her expression dumbfounded. She had hardly expected Vegeta to respond let alone fully engage her. He had been avoiding her for a while, only sometimes humoring her rounds of questioning and learning about each other. He probably knew the things she told him already for all she knew. Vegeta seemed confused by the way Bulma was staring at him again, his expression growing guarded once again before he turned to walk away. Bulma’s heart jolted her, and she reached out. “Um, wait!” Vegeta paused in his stride and looked back towards the human female awaiting for her to speak. “Uh, um…would you…would you like to go for a walk?”

His eyes widened only a fraction, but he kept his countenance neutral despite his racing heart at the thought of spending time alone with the woman. Their moments alone recently had consisted more of him pushing her away while Bulma tried to bridge the gap despite her uncertainty. He had been avoiding her, mostly, and a part of him wanted to stop. Well, he _had_ agreed to go slowly and allow her to get to know him. Everything that lay ahead was something he couldn’t see. He had seen their relationship, major events, some smaller events, and he had felt what his counterpart had felt, but he still didn’t know how their daily lives had played out. He owed it to them both to let it happen.

Vegeta answered her with a nod, and the two simply walked over to the pool. Nappa watched the two teens in interest. He knew what the blue-haired woman was to the prince, and they had had a pretty rocky start. These visions of Vegeta’s could pose a problem, but at least he was finding his own rhythm. It was important he realize that knowledge of these visions could cause things to change. Truthfully, the course of their relationship had probably already been altered.

So far, it seemed like things were heading in the positive direction.

* * *

At the pool, Bulma sat down and took of her shoes, setting her feet in the water and releasing a contented sigh. It was beautiful out that day, and definitely enjoyable. She looked up at Vegeta was still standing near her gazing over the water. “So, how are you transitioning,” she asked, trying to incite conversation with her Saiyan houseguest.

He glanced down at her before taking a seat next to her. “Well,” he spoke softly, his eyes holding the tint of longing. They took in Bulma’s surprised form, so he elaborated, “I’m familiar with the layout due to the visions.” He left it at that, but her parents were hardly strangers to him though he was to them. Not wanting to have that argument with the woman again, he let it lie, but he was certain that she made the connection with her intellect.

“So…” she breathed out, looking away, “I take it you know my home and my family all too well, huh?”

Vegeta looked back over the water, unwavering. “Does it scare you?”

“Not really,” Bulma admitted, and that was the first time she got Vegeta to react. He looked stunned. “I’m not afraid, but I just don’t understand them…the visions I mean, how they work.”

The Saiyan nodded in agreement. “Hn,” he scoffed. “That makes two of us.”

Bulma offered him a shy smile. “How did you even get that power?”

Her answer was a shrug. “I don’t know,” he divulged. “I assume I was born with the ability, but I did not always experience its effects. When I was a young child, I had a certain sense about scenarios that would occur, but I was never able to picture it clearly, and then, when I did, it was of the most horrible of circumstances, a warning of what Frieza were to do. I did not understand what it meant. Raditz’s and Kakarot’s father was the one who understood, and he’s no longer alive. I probably will never fully understand my power…”

Bulma’s heart ached for the teenaged prince, and she felt herself so desperately want to reach out for him, but she didn’t want to give him the wrong idea, get his hopes up. Still, that longing and loneliness she could feel from him consumed her. “Can…can you control them?”

Vegeta ignored the question mainly because he didn’t want to admit to the woman how out of control it was. Instead, he changed the subject. “How are you doing since the Dragon Ball hunt?” he asked. “I haven’t seen you around much today since we got here.”

“I was in my room,” she explained. “I was trying to come up with ideas in addition to the ones you were discussing with my father.” She chuckled and gently elbowed him in the side. “Hey, you haven’t had any visions that could help me along, have you?”

The prince smirked at her eagerness. “About that, what do you know about the effects of gravity?”

Bulma’s brow quirked, the gears in her mind turning. “Well, I know that gravity contributes to the weight of an individual on a planetary mass. Why?”

“The gravity on this planet is low,” he told her. “On my planet, it was ten times greater than this, and when we came here, it was a change and less of a challenge. We were considerably faster, though. There is technology out there in the universe, and even hear on Earth, that allow changes in gravity.”

That was a lot of information to go on, and Bulma was immediately on the same wavelength. “Let me guess, a room that can increase the effects of gravity, make you heavier. That’s it, right?”

“And you once again prove that you are a genius,” Vegeta stated, his voice soft and smooth. “Yes. The room isn’t to be created for another decade, I assume, and you and your father will have created it together; however, it is possible that we can get a head start.”

Bulma shot up, her feet splashing water. “I’ll start researching right away,” she said in exasperation, her eyes lit up with delight. “I want to construct this for you as soon as possible. That will make a huge difference, right, if I can get this done now instead of later?”

“Anything helps,” Vegeta assured her. His expression became serious. “Don’t push yourself too much.”

“I won’t,” she responded knowingly. He must have seen something where she had overworked herself. That was a bad habit of hers. “This part’s the easy part. I’ll catch you later.”

She left a slightly stumped Vegeta behind, but once she was gone he smirked. Her enthusiasm was something to be admired. Bulma took pride in her work much like he did in his training, and now they were both fighting for a common goal. Despite her knowledge of his visions and her invitation for them to come and stay with her, this was not her battle. At this moment in time, they were hardly anything, and yet her ardor shone in her eyes. He had to admit, she was gorgeous when she looked like that.

* * *

Their paths had not crossed again for the rest of the day, but later, long after dinner, Bulma came across Vegeta in the indoor gym. Running into the Saiyan would probably happen a lot now that he was living there, but it still took Bulma by surprise. Her eyes widened as she saw the teenager lifting weights much heavier than she had ever seen anyone, even adults, lift. It amazed her, and much like earlier, when she watched Vegeta spar with Nappa, she found herself hypnotized. Moments later, Vegeta sat up, their eyes meeting. “Yes?” his smooth voice reached the heiress, and she blushed at having been caught staring.

“Nothing,” she replied, shaking her head to snap her out of her trance. “I was just surprised you were lifting so much. You don’t even look tired.”

A cocky smirk found its way to his face. “This is nothing. It’s not even the least bit challenging.”

“Oh really?” she teased. “Then why bother doing it?”

He took a moment to think over her question, answering delicately. “I need to keep active.”

“But it’s so late,” Bulma nearly whispered before grinning at the Saiyan. “I know you’re a tough guy and all, but even Saiyans need their sleep.”

Once again, Vegeta found himself at a loss for words, not wanting to burden the woman with his reasons. Since the nights he had been spending on his own, he had suffered from even worse and worse nightmares. Truthfully, this was not new to the prince. There were times where images of Frieza would haunt his every waking moment, not to mention any dream. He could handle it. Despite what Bardock had told him, Vegeta knew he could keep silent. The visions wouldn’t consume him or drive him mad. Eventually, he would have to forget.

“How has the rest of your day been?” he asked, and this time Bulma was keenly attuned to his change of subject. She forced herself not to frown, to keep up appearances. She needed to play along so that he didn’t suspect that she saw his discomfort through his carefully erected guard. “Well, I started the research for the gravity simulator. There’s still a lot of work ahead, plus I don’t even know if the technology is even in existence yet, whatever we used for the room in the future. Doesn’t matter, though. I still think I can do it.”

“If anyone can, it’s you,” Vegeta declared in agreement with her statement.

Her expression lit up with warmth and respect, thankful that Vegeta had so much faith in her. It made her wonder what she was capable of and what she would have done to win this Saiyan over. He didn’t seem like the type to give compliments freely, and yet, with her, he seemed to shower her with so many. He truly believed in her, and that was completely new to her. “Now that I’m here, would you maybe want to take a break with me before bed?”

“Why not?” Vegeta remarked, following Bulma out of the gym.

As they walked through the halls, Vegeta determined that she was bringing them to the downstairs den, most likely to watch a movie. He remembered the first time he had a vision of them watching movies, curled up on the couch under a blanket, his arm wrapped around her. They were much older in the vision, Vegeta wearing some form of Earthling clothing. In his vision, he was calm and complacent. He probably still would be, simply wanting to be close to Bulma while caring little for the movie. A part of him wondered if the other him, the him that would have experienced the movies for the first time, had enjoyed the experience, but then he realized how foolish the thought was. That version of him probably would have had the same vision…maybe…Vegeta didn’t know. All he knew was that he wanted to be with Bulma.

After Bulma put a videotape in the player, she took a seat beside the Saiyan, cuddling up against him. His tail wound around her both embarrassing Vegeta and making Bulma grin. A defeated sigh left the prince’s lips as he decided to wrap his arms around the woman, too. The action only made Bulma bury herself deeper. The heiress felt incredibly safe and secure, surprising considering her past apprehension. Maybe being home among her family and being away from the other Saiyans and Oolong contributed to this peace she felt with Vegeta. It was something she could get used to.

Vegeta, though, was somewhere else. Bulma looked up and could tell that he was thinking about something while looking really intense. She was reminded of the night when she had found out about his visions. Clearly, he had them a lot, and he kept them bottled up for so long, maybe that was what was forcing his gaze to be so penetrating. “Hey, Vegeta?” He looked down at her immediately, and she almost lost her nerve. “I-I was just wondering something…about the visions?”

The Saiyan heaved a heavy sigh and closed his eyes leaning back against the couch. “Go on,” he droned in irritation. Well, at least he hadn’t shut her down completely.

“It’s just, you don’t talk about them a lot,” she pointed out. “Doesn’t that bother you?”

“The visions alone bother me,” Vegeta retorted. “I have no desire to bother anyone else with them.”

“But, what if we want to help you?” she questioned. “It’s not fair to your or us to keep them hidden.”

He flashed a heatless glare her way before scoffing and turning away. “You would not be able to handle any of it,” he relayed. “You’re better off not knowing.”

“But I do know,” she reminded him. “That night, the one where you had trained yourself half to death…you told me about the visions then. I know you thought I was someone else, but you said that Raditz’s father told you to tell someone when the visions kept replaying themselves, and before that you had seemed to know it was me. You said that me treating you was just like your vision. What did you mean by that?”

Another sigh escaped him as his somber eyes met hers. “To be honest, I did know it was you in that first moment. I don’t know why my mind perceived you as someone else. I guess I assumed you left. As for the vision to which I was referring, I had believed it to have taken place later in our relationship, somewhere down the line where the self-abuse was inflicted because of visions of Frieza, not where I believed your words to be rejection, so I was wrong about placement and context, but it still happened, just not because of Frieza.”

“Why would you have assumed it was because of Frieza?” Bulma pressed, hoping to force the information out of him. She normally didn’t pry to anyone like this, but Vegeta needed to talk it out. He needed someone to listen, for someone to understand. She could be that person, even if she didn’t fully understand.

“After so many particularly terrible visions?” he sighed. “Bulma, you must remember what I told you that night. I would have been a ruthless killer, destroying races. I would have never shown any inkling of mercy. I would have killed because I liked to kill, and for no other reason save getting stronger. I would have been his puppet, a slave to my bloodlust, and so I sometimes put myself through intense training, wearing out my body, as a form of punishment that will also push me further in strength to one day be able to take out that monster.”

Bulma scoffed a chuckle. “Well, that’s dumb,” she clipped making Vegeta glare at her. “I mean, yeah, you need to be strong and get stronger, but you need your own strength, not to hurt yourself. That will set you back too much.”

“Saiyans have the ability to get stronger every time they almost die,” Vegeta explained removing his arms from her and crossing them over his chest. “A couple of sessions like that here and there won’t kill me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I no longer wish to discuss this. Good night.”

He stood up, his tail removing itself from Bulma’s waist and securing itself snuggly around his waist. The way Vegeta grumbled his “good night” kind of dropped the discussion, and Bulma could only watch him leave. With every step he took, not to mention once he had fully disappeared from sight, Bulma could feel her heart break for him. The Saiyan was overwhelmed by such guilt, and she feared that would be his undoing. He wasn’t the man in those visions. Sure, he could have become that way, but he had avoided a life with this space tyrant. He was not out destroying races or even villages on this planet just because he felt like it. She hoped to help him get past this. If she couldn’t, there was little hope for any of them moving forward. Vegeta needed to realize that his visions _did not_ define him.

There had to be a way to make him see that.

* * *

Vegeta really did try to sleep that night, even got into bed once he returned to his room for the night. He had succeeded for just an hour before a horrid nightmare of Frieza came to him. What was more disturbing than the vision itself was that he could actually _feel_ the pain and torture. That had never happened to him before at any time. The prince could tell it wasn’t a vision, for he could normally feel emotions through vision, but not pain. His visions never brought him anything but emotional pain.

The prince had never been tortured in that manner during his life. He had trained hard, knew what pain was, but this was awful. At times, he felt like he couldn’t breathe. He was struggling for his life, against the restraints, but the searing agony was too much to bear. He couldn’t help but cry out, scream, and that was how he woke up panting heavily and sweating while feeling his own body for tears in flesh. He breathed out a sigh of relief when he realized he was intact.

 _What the hell even was that?_ he asked himself. Nothing like that had ever happened, even in his nightmares. It was horrible, devastating, and something told Vegeta he would never be the same after that. His eyes shifted to the door, his body and mind on full alert, the second he felt a ki signature. It was Bulma. _What is she doing here?_

Following his sensation of her presence, a timid knock accompanied her energy, making her presence known. She entered the room moments later, slowly, cautiously. Her blue eyes shone with worry for him, and his body had stilled, as if everything else around him disappeared and he could not move for he was on another plane of existence. “Hi,” she whispered. She then closed the door behind her. “I…I heard you screaming. I was worried. Are…are you okay?”

He couldn’t answer. He was completely entranced by her presence, the moonlight reflecting off of her. She looked so translucent, so beautiful, and his instincts compelled him to act, but he couldn’t, not now. He didn’t even want to act. After what he had just experience, he didn’t want to feel _anyone’s_ hands on him.

“Vegeta?”

That gentle way she had spoken his name seemed to snap him out of his trance, and he averted his eyes. He could not let himself get lost in her troubled eyes again, even her anxiety was for him. “It was nothing,” he lied. “Just a dream. I barely remember it.”

“That’s not true, is it?” Bulma replied knowingly. She released an exasperated sigh. “Look, Vegeta, I won’t pressure you to talk, but this isn’t healthy. I don’t know if you know this or even care, but what if it had woken up someone else. Do you really want to explain this to my parents? Do you want Nappa asking you a million questions about whatever you saw?”

“Why would Nappa…?” Vegeta started to ask before he put two and two together. It took all his strength not to throw himself back against the mattress. “So, Nappa knows too, now…”

“Probably the only ones who still don’t know are Goku, and then Oolong before he ran off somewhere,” Bulma explained. “Oh, and that bandit and his cat friend. They didn’t know either. Nappa and Raditz both overheard what you told me. So…I guess in a way, you did tell Raditz after all.” That didn’t make Vegeta feel any better. “In any case, I don’t want to pressure you to talk, but at the same time these nightmares are unhealthy, so…please…just talk to me about it.” Her expression softened. “I want to help.”

Vegeta could tell that Bulma would not let this go. Her stubbornness rivaled his, and she was less likely to leave if he didn’t give in. Maybe, if he told her, it would send her running in the other direction. “If you’re so intent on knowing…”

Bulma offered him a weak smile before taking a seat on the bed. Vegeta sighed, struggling to find the words to explain what had just happened. He couldn’t make sense of it. He was used to nightmares, but not to feeling pain like that. His body was still shaking from the aftershock. “You’re a scientist,” he stated, and Bulma was confused as to why he was bringing it up. “Can you feel pain from nightmares?”

“I’ve heard of people feeling pain from dreams,” she started which made the prince perk up slightly, “however, it’s very rare and usually associated with a painful memory or some random firing of nerves to a stimulus, like if you feel like a bug is biting you and then you wake up and your leg feels numb.” Vegeta shivered at the thought. “What?”

“I hate bugs,” he admitted, knowing that that could potentially pose a problem in the future. “What if the person has never experienced that specific kind of pain?”

“I’m not sure,” the woman admitted, and Vegeta’s expression faltered. “I won’t say it’s not possible, and I’m sure stress probably triggered it, but normally you have to be aware of the sensation. Also, you should be able to make the pain in a dream stop. We’re the masters of our own subconscious minds.”

Maybe she was, Vegeta mentally scoffed. He felt like he was a slave to his, and now he felt like he truly was losing his mind. According to the woman, it was somewhat normal, but rare, and if he had no knowledge of such pain, he shouldn’t be able to feel it, not like that. “Maybe you should consider what I said earlier,” Bulma stated cautiously. His head tilted to see her, and she looked incredibly wary. “What was the dream about?”

Well, here went nothing… “Frieza.”

Bulma didn’t seem surprised even when he flinched as her hand grazed his arm. He pulled away from her, but his tail once again wrapped itself around her, this time her arm. She seemed fascinated by the furry appendage, and Vegeta mentally begged her not to try and touch that too. There were some parts of the dream where the torture was directed to the sensitive tail. “What did he do?” she asked sympathetically, answering his silent plea. Instead, she lied down on the other side of the bed.

Vegeta followed suit so that he was lying down. He felt so cold, now, but he dared not try to grab the blankets. “He tortured me,” he admitted, “within an inch of my life. I’ve never felt pain like that before, not ever.” His eyes grew solemn as he stared down at the white sheets. “I…never experienced that before, and now I have, and it doesn’t make any sense.”

She touched him again, her hand pressed weakly against his chest. Their eyes met for a moment. “Oh Vegeta,” she breathed out, “it’s going to be okay. He won’t hurt you. I know you’ll beat him one day.”

“How can you be so sure?” the prince countered. “You haven’t seen the things I have. Even Nappa and Raditz have no idea what we’re up against.”

“It’ll work out,” she assured him. “Even if none of us can comprehend who or what he is, we are all on the same team. I’ll do whatever I can to help you beat him, but you can’t lose faith. You’re so much stronger than that. You know that even if that were a vision of things to come that your visions have changed. You told me that as a child you were a murderer. Tell me…were you killing people as a child here on Earth?”

Vegeta’s eyes widened and blinked a few times in disbelief. “No…”

“And you’re a teenager now,” she pointed out. “How many societies have you destroyed since you left your planet?”

“None…”

“Then you aren’t the same person in your visions,” she concluded. “That person doesn’t exist because once you had seen that he would have taken you, you left that life behind and came here. You _chose_ to be a different person, and you’re choosing to train and fight back. This Frieza jerk can’t take that away from you. You aren’t his puppet, but a strong Saiyan prince that is doing his race proud. You even tried to bring them back. Do you think that would have even been a thought on your mind if you had become that person in your visions?”

“Probably not,” Vegeta agreed, feeling a bit surer of himself. “So what you’re saying is that those visions I had in the past mean nothing anymore, because they didn’t happen.”

“Exactly,” Bulma hummed, and she moved her hand to trace his jawline. Vegeta watched her, his eye never wavering as she touched him, but her nerves started to spin out of control when she realized what she was doing. “Um, anyway, I should probably leave you to sleep.” She went to move, but she was trapped because Vegeta’s tail wouldn’t let go of her. She looked even more jumpy when she tried to pull away again. “Uh…little help?”

Vegeta merely grinned impishly. “I’m afraid this is beyond my control,” he told her, and he was being sincere, though he was now thoroughly amused instead of embarrassed. “I guess you aren’t going anywhere tonight.”

She flashed him an uneasy smile. “Seems like it…”

“Don’t worry,” he comforted. “I won’t do anything improper.”

“Well, of course not,” Bulma laughed, lying back down on the bed. “I expect more from a prince, after all.”

The comment made him smirk as he pulled the blankets over them. “Of course. Good night, Bulma.”

“Sleep well, Vegeta.”

And he did sleep well. In fact, they both did, better than they had in a while, and Vegeta felt encouraged by her words. He had been so heavily focused on his past visions that he had been trapped there, never moving forward. A thought occurred to him, that maybe he could use those visions to find a way to combat Frieza. He could use them to learn his fighting style, see where he needed to improve or expand upon, and maybe he could analyze Frieza’s style in that way as well. His nightmare was still suspect, but he would have no more for quite a while, and that would be good enough for Vegeta.

He had a renewed vigor to fight back, and it was thanks to the woman. Perhaps this is how he would have fallen for her. Now that was the first thing that made sense to him that entire day.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

“I’m getting nowhere…”

Bulma huffed as she swept the blueprints on her desk to the floor. It had been weeks since she had started looking into this gravity chamber crap, and she still had no idea what she was doing. She was beginning to thing this project was a lost cause. At this point, the technology probably hadn’t even been invented yet, and that made it all the more frustrating. Mentally, she cursed Vegeta’s visions and the fact that they didn't give them more to go on. This was ridiculous.

“Having trouble?”

The woman gasped and turned to see Vegeta leaned against the doorframe of her lab. He looked so regal and smooth that, for the moment, Bulma’s attention wasn't fully on her work. “Kind of,” she reluctantly admitted. “This is starting to feel like a fool’s errand.”

“Hn,” Vegeta chuckled. “Trust me; you are no fool. I know you’ll figure it out.”

“Maybe in ten years or so,” Bulma huffed, looking away. “The materials aren’t out there, and the current research is shoddy at best.”

“Perhaps you need a different medium,” the prince stated, walking over to her. “I don’t know how you came up with what you did, but I remember seeing myself in a ship, a large pod resembling our Saiyan crafts. We still have our original pods hidden where we lived. I can take you there. Maybe it will help.”

“Alien technology?” Bulma questioned, her face lighting up with excitement. “When do we leave?”

“Whenever you want,” Vegeta replied. “Perhaps you should have lunch first.”

Bulma deflated slightly and looked at the clock. She hadn’t realized she had been in her lab so long, and was surprised that her mother or father hadn’t come to get her for lunch. Vegeta had come to her, probably entering from training. It was possible he noticed the time and stopped by her lab, or maybe her mother had asked him to come get her for lunch. Something told Bulma, though, that Vegeta had come to her without any prompting. That seemed to happen on occasion. He really must have believed her to be something special. “Have you eaten yet?” she tested.

“No,” Vegeta told her. His cheeks stained red, and Bulma’s lips parted. It was true. Vegeta had come to her first before indulging his large appetite. It brought a smile to Bulma’s face.

“Well, then we better get up there,” she stated. “I want to take a look at those space crafts. There’s no time to lose.”

Vegeta smirked at the woman and nodded, secretly pleased with her eagerness. He had had many visions of how excited and passionate the woman could be about her work. The two shared a similar work ethic and drive, part of the reason they fit so well together. Both strove for excellence in everything they did, which would ultimately play a big part in defeating Frieza should the tyrant ever find him. Vegeta had no visions of such an instance, but he did not want to take any chances. Most likely, when he felt himself strong enough, he would leave the planet and take Frieza on alone if only to protect the few beings for which he cared. That wouldn’t happen for a long time, though, for Vegeta honestly didn’t have a decent measure of his strength. Hopefully, he would eventually have a vision that would be a help to him, maybe giving him a hidden weakness the tyrant possessed. If only he could be so lucky.

Bulma finished getting washed up at her sink and returned to Vegeta’s side, gently nudging him with her body. It brought him out of his dark thoughts, and her smile radiated light in his heart. He relaxed as their eyes met. Bulma still could see something hidden in his abyssal orbs. “Everything okay?” she questioned, her voice full of concern. Realization flickered across her eyes. “Was it another vision?”

“No,” he assured her. “Just thinking. Trust me; if I’m having a vision, you’ll know.”

The woman remembered that one time she had woken up and saw Vegeta looking far off with translucent eyes which corroborated his words. Still, she had no desire to bring his mind back to that time. That was the day after she had accidentally learned about his visions, the day after he almost killed himself training as if he had nothing to live for and actually confirming it. Those were the days where he perceived her fear as rejection. “I’ll take your word for it,” she forced out in a cheery voice, hoping he wouldn’t see through her. If he did, he didn’t ask what had changed her mood. That was a plus.

* * *

The two went up the stairs and into the kitchen for lunch and saw that it was just the two of them. They both preferred it that way for they didn’t have to deal with Bulma’s mother’s invasive questions or Nappa’s watchful eye. The older Saiyan seemed to be observing them a lot lately. Neither of them understood why.

Shortly after they had lunch, they decided to take a trip. Again, no one had crossed their paths so they didn’t bother telling anyone. Well, that wasn’t fully true. Vegeta had encouraged Bulma to leave a note solely for her father that they’d be back before dinner, hopefully.

It felt like it had been ages since Vegeta had been near the cave system where the Saiyans had resided over the past twelve years, and yet in actuality it had been mere weeks ago. Bulma was a little leery about entering the dark cave, but she came prepared with a light, and the two entered the place. Bulma couldn’t believe the conditions they Saiyans had chosen for themselves, but she did understand that they couldn’t exactly let themselves be seen or expose themselves to the moonlight. This had been their only option for a time. Then she thought back to the house where she had found them. It had been Goku’s grandfather’s house. Why hadn’t they chosen to reside there when they found the child? Her scientific mind was bringing out all sorts of curious questions, and she didn’t dare ask Vegeta at this point.

They finally made it to an open area in the cave, and Bulma could hear water crashing down. She was nervous, afraid to be swept away, but Vegeta just walked ahead of her as if nothing was wrong. Well, she had to trust him. It’s not like this wasn’t his home or anything at one point…

Vegeta walked over to a table, or what looked to be a table when Bulma shined the light on it. He clicked a switch on something which illuminated the entire cave structure. Bulma was amazed by the glow and definitely at the view.

Inside this cave, there were four piles of leaves on the ground and a small pit for a fire. To the right of her was the entranced from which they came, and to the left was a huge waterfall and a small creek. The light cascaded over the rocks causing a beautiful, luminescent glow. This whole fortress was amazing as it was large. Bulma’s eyes landed on Vegeta who was already over by the space pods. _Wow,_ she thought upon seeing them. _How the heck did they get those in here?_ Well, they were strong. Her mental question was answered.

“These are them,” he told her, looking back. “We don’t have Kakarot’s pod. That’s somewhere else, but these were the pods Nappa, Raditz, and I escaped in.”

Her scientific curiosity was tapered once those words left Vegeta’s mouth. It brought her back to the reality that this wasn’t just distant alien technology. It reminded her that Vegeta’s people had sent him in this craft to protect him from a monster who constantly haunted his thoughts, who he was training to defeat. This technology would bridge the gap between the “primitive” Earthling technology and what they truly needed in order for her to give him a chance against this monster. It was difficult for her mind to wrap around that thought.

Vegeta noticed Bulma’s change in disposition, her excited intrigue gone. He couldn’t understand it, and almost took in the wrong way until she walked over to the pod and placed her hand on it. “Seems incredibly sturdy, more so than anything we’ve created thus far,” she told him. A sad smile was offered to him. “At least I know you were safe when you came here.”

The Saiyan nodded before casting a glance at the pods. He could remember that night with such clarity until he had been forced into stasis. When they had awoken on Earth, so much had changed, including his outlook on everything. The visions and the destruction of his home world had been the reason for that. Now, though, was not the time to reflect on the past. Bulma seemed to think so as well and placed her hand on his shoulder. “Do you have the capsules?” he asked her. “We should encapsulate them quickly and head back.”

“Is it really okay for me to study them?” she asked, uncertain.

“Yes,” Vegeta stated. “It’s not like we intend to use them again any time soon.” It would be years before Vegeta would be ready to confront Frieza.

“Alright, sounds good,” Bulma returned. The teenager walked over to the large spheres and took out a few capsules. It was so surreal to be standing next to something that was created and crafted on another planet. For a moment, she just needed to take it in, and then she used the small storages devices so that they could easily bring them back to her home. She couldn’t wait to pick one of these vessels apart.

This was going to be really exciting. She hoped she’d be able to help Vegeta with whatever her findings would be.

* * *

Raditz couldn’t help but watch as the boy’s training had begun. That morning had been chaotic, the woman the two children had brought back trying to get everyone breakfast between her fits of sneezing. This woman, Launch, went crazy when she was a blonde, though Raditz could admit he wasn’t as horrified as the others. Having been used to Saiyan women, this whole ordeal was actually quite comical.

Once the sneezes had ended, the woman finally back in her blue-haired form, acted very motherly towards the children, and even to Raditz who was loathe to admit that he was reminded of his own mother. Disappointment settled in his heart at the wish not having been fulfilled. Part of him had really been looking forward to seeing his parents once more.

After breakfast that morning, Master Roshi packed up his house in a capsule much like Bulma had done their entire journey. Despite being used to it, the technology always managed to impress the Saiyan. The humans probably didn’t even realize the magnitude of their invention. These small capsules could be used to carry rations, weapons, and even ships. It was a good thing this technology had only been found on this backwater planet. Frieza’s army would definitely take advantage.

They were now on a new island, one that was bigger and had more space so the boys could train. Goku had gone off on his own on the Nimbus cloud as soon as they got there, ready to explore. Raditz stayed behind at the turtle hermit’s home. He figured his brother would be fine on his own. After all, their race had basically sent him to this world to destroy it, though Vegeta and Raditz had stayed quiet on that matter. The older Saiyans knew Nappa was dying to inform the boy, but out of respect for the prince he didn’t point it out.

Goku was so excited for the first lesson, and Krillin was actually the more stoic of the two. Raditz predicted that this Krillin boy had gone through his own training somewhere. He was more seasoned than Goku, despite Goku watching the other Saiyans fight and training with them on occasion. The Saiyan was actually kind of excited to see the skill the Earthling possessed and how it could help his brother grow as a warrior. Only time would tell.

The first day of training was pretty lax, in Raditz’s opinion, the old man basically having the boys try to beat each other’s times in running. It was to test their current ability. At first Krillin had had the quicker time, but Goku was not one to be beat. After taking off his old and worn shoes, he managed to have the quicker time. Roshi completed his dash in less time than the both of them, Raditz releasing a low whistle. He was not expecting the old human to be faster than his brother. His speech about surpassing normal human limitations was well warranted.

Later in the day, he gave them a final test. Roshi marked a stone and tossed it into the woods for them to find, and the loser would go without dinner. Raditz chortled in delight when he saw the apprehensive look on Goku’s face. He taunted him with a “you better get it first, kid, or tomorrow you’ll be miserable.” The turtle hermit looked over to the amused Saiyan and shook his head. Of course, the master had no idea how much food Saiyans needed to pack in, and Goku was young and untrained when it came to going days without resources.

Raditz hadn’t overseen the competition, but Krillin had been the one to return with the stone, and Goku returned later without one. Krillin had been inside with Roshi eating whatever Launch prepared, Goku having chosen to stay outside. He was brooding silently, but Raditz could tell his little brother was angry. There was a problem with that. Goku was never angry.

“I’m surprised you didn’t beat him, Kakarot,” Raditz stated, earning a glare from the child. “What happened out there?”

“Krillin cheated,” Goku admitted. “I found the rock first and he tricked me into giving it to him, and then we fought for it and I won, but he threw a fake one out.”

“Well, kid,” Raditz said softly, “let this be a lesson to you. Anyone can trick you. You have to stick to your guns in a battle, never listen to the opponent. You’ve always been far too trusting. You may be strong, but sometimes, as you experienced today, that strength isn’t what makes you the winner.”

“But Krillin is my friend,” Goku argued. “I didn’t think he’d do something like that.”

“Krillin is a boy who is trying to get ahead,” Raditz replied. “As of right now, you two are rivals under the same master. In a way, you two will always be in competition. It’s up to you to decide how you see it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can see it as friendly competition or decide that the boy is your enemy,” Raditz stated, “but just so you know, even with us Saiyans, anything goes in a fight whether it’s a spar in a training session or an actual battle.”

“I don’t want to be enemies,” Goku stated, the word leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. The anger was gone from his voice when he faced that choice. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m just mad that he beat me.”

“Well, somewhat,” Raditz stated. “Go inside with them, show them that you take pride in every win and defeat, and deal with the fallout, but later, you and I will go hunting. The fact that the two of you fought and you came out victorious in that aspect deserves a reward.”

Goku beamed radiantly at his brother before launching himself at the Saiyan. Raditz had been unprepared for the contact, his brother’s arms wrapping around him as well as they could. Goku nuzzled his cheek against his brother’s chest, and Raditz relaxed. “Kakarot?”

“Thanks, Raditz,” the little boy whispered before he raced inside. Raditz released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He hadn’t been hugged like that in a long time, the last time by his mother. Sure, he carried his brother at times during their travels, but he hadn’t hugged the boy ever. Goku’s actions had touched something in his heart.

* * *

The following day, training was put on hold for that dinner that Launch had served had been pufferfish stew, a poisonous fish. Poor Launch had felt horrible for getting Master Roshi and Krillin sick, but Raditz had to admit that they deserved it. Krillin had cheated in the competition, and Raditz had been forced to endure the display of Roshi trying to grope Launch unsuccessfully. At least his downfall had been mildly entertaining.

A day of rest later, the real training began at dawn. Raditz was up before the infernal, ringing clock of Roshi’s woke the master for the day, already outside practicing his own kata. There had been a commotion in the house, most likely due to Launch. Raditz could have sworn he heard her sneeze in the middle of the night.

Raditz almost made a comment when Roshi gave the boys a speech about how the purpose of martial arts was peace and not violence. The hermit’s eyes casted a glance over at the Saiyan and peered through him, even through his dark lenses. It was a silent demand that Raditz allow the master to train his brother his way. Honestly, it made sense. The whole purpose of this endeavor was for his brother to learn in a way much different to what the Saiyans were accustomed. Raditz held his tongue and continued to observe, especially when Roshi had stated that if, anyone evil attacked them or anyone else with unethical force, it was their duty to defend.

When he brought them to a dairy farm, Raditz gawked, speechless.

Yes, for a training exercise, the boys were to deliver milk across the countryside. “What kind of training exercise is that?” Raditz questioned, finally unable to keep silent.

Roshi eyed him sternly. “It’s an exercise to help them train their bodies.”

Even the salesman goat had concerns. “You’re going on foot? But every bottle needs to be delivered during breakfast time.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Roshi assured the goat. “I’ll have them moving like lightening. Now, boys, come grab a crate.”

“Yes, sir,” Krillin replied, walking over while Goku excitedly went for the crate. Well, that at least brought a grin to Raditz’s face. At least his brother would manage to enjoy himself in this strange routine.

The training turned out to be more fruitful than Raditz had given credit. He had thought it would be a simple, easy task for the boys, but watching from the sky was telling. There were several miles between each home, and Roshi had the boys skipping. It had to be exhausting, though Goku was keeping up with the hermit while Krillin fell behind, Raditz watching over them from the sky. The poor kid was actually trying to weasel his way out of doing the proper exercise, but he did choose to start over when he was caught. Overall, Raditz could tell he was a good kid, but he was mischievous. Well, if anyone would be able to get Kakarot’s Saiyan instincts riled up, Raditz was sure it was the little, bald monk.

Finally, they reached a mountain of stairs which gave Goku and Krillin a break from running, but the little monk was still not ready to take on such an endeavor. Still, he never gave up, and he had almost caught up to Goku who was beginning to struggle as well. Raditz had finally seen the importance of the training a while back. It was easy to carrying something. Hell, it was easy to carrying something for a few miles. To go all day, performing exercises while holding onto these crates, not to mention climbing with the added weight…it was ingenious. With the decreased gravity on the planet, Raditz was certain that nothing would aid any of them in training, but this, adding weight to one’s body, was a good alternative. He would have to bring the matter up to the other two Saiyans. No, it probably wouldn’t make _much_ of a difference, but it was at least something.

Roshi sat down with to smoke his pipe at a breaking point, Raditz landing beside him. “Nothing more relaxing like the fresh air of nature,” Roshi said as he blew a puff.

Raditz snorted in response. “Yeah. Right.”

The two looked over to the stairs, hearing Goku and seeing him emerge breathing raggedly. “Well, it looks like even Goku has his limits. Hm.”

“Master Roshi,” Goku called as he got closer to his new teacher. “Couldn’t I go faster with the Nimbus cloud?”

“Would that challenge your abilities, Goku?”

 _Good counter,_ Raditz thought. It seemed that this Master Roshi was not one to go easy on his students even though the training _seemed_ more easygoing.

“I guess not,” Goku admitted. “It’s just that I’m so tired of climbing stairs.”

Roshi took another puff before smiling at the boy. “Did you know Ox King and your grandfather, Gohan, used to carry crates up this mountain all the time, and not once did they ever complain to me.”

That thought had renewed Goku’s vigor. “What?” he asked, a wide grin on his face. “My grandfather delivered milk here? Like me…?”

Raditz could see the wistful look in his brother’s eyes and was reminded instantly of how distraught he was over how his grandfather had been killed. It was easy to see during certain moments of the day that Goku was still struggling with this fact, but the idea that he was training the same way his grandfather had, the fact that this mountain now joined the two warriors, had ease something in the little boy’s heart. It was what he needed to hear. This turtle hermit was slowly but surely winning Raditz’s respect…in certain things. He still wasn’t crazy about his lecherous behavior, though he really shouldn’t be shocked. He had been around far worse in Frieza’s militia.

Goku looked to the milk, a smile on his face, and his determination grew. He looked up to Roshi. “I’ll meet you at the top, master.” And he took off once again.

Roshi looked over to Raditz who had said nothing. “Worked like a charm,” he told him.

“So, it was a lie to motivate him?” Raditz chuckled. “Should have known.”

“Not completely,” Roshi replied. “I knew that boy’s grandfather well. Gohan was an excellent student. He really never complained about my training, though I will admit the first time I had him and Ox doing milk deliveries, Gohan never stopped, but he did ask what the purpose was.”

“What did you tell him?” Raditz asked, curious.

“I asked him, ‘are you starting to feel the struggle to catch your breath?’ And he responded with, ‘yeah, why?’ I told him, ‘that’s why,’ and also, eventually, when his body was used to the current added weight, he’d have more to carry.”

“It’s a decent method,” Raditz agreed. “On our planet, the gravity was much stronger than here. Your training has given me an idea to report back to Vegeta and Nappa.”

“Bet you’re surprised,” the hermit stated sincerely. “Given the story you told me, I bet you never imagined that one could grow stronger through peaceful means.”

“Perhaps,” Raditz returned, noticing Krillin reach them.

Roshi looked to the boy. “Nice work. You’re about halfway there.”

The truth of the matter shocked Krillin, and he took off up the stairs hoping to catch up with Goku. “That boy…he’s going to be chasing after him a lot.”

“Kakarot can still learn from him,” Raditz stated, watching the child. “I can see them being excellent rivals.”

“Hm,” Roshi agreed with a nod. “Now, let’s get up there. I have some news for the boys. You might be interested.”

“Sure, why not,” Raditz stated. “These stairs are no match for me.”

“This may not make any difference, but here.” Roshi tossed Raditz the turtle shell from his back, heavier than Raditz thought it might be, but still not much.

The Saiyan shrugged. “Whatever helps. It’s better than nothing.”

Roshi actually grinned at the Saiyan, happy that his lesson was already having a positive influence on a brute of this warrior race. They were all going to have to work together one day if that tyrant ever came looking for them. In a way, Roshi felt like he was a part of this, even though he had nothing to do with the Saiyans. It was all because of this little boy Gohan found one day. This was the reason he wanted to prepare him. He owed it to his former student to look after Goku and, by extension, his Saiyan family.

The boys finally reached the top, thoroughly exhausted, both trying to catch their breath as they finally delivered the milk. “Delivered before breakfast,” Roshi announced.

The monk from the mountain temple smiled at the boys. “Thank you. Would you like a cup of milk?”

Goku jumped right on that bandwagon. “Oh, I do!” But Roshi didn’t approve and smacked the boy with his wooden stick, just a light tap.”

The boy rubbed his head. “Why did you make my head go ouch like that?” he complained.

“You don’t give milk and then take it back,” the master admonished.

“Oh,” Goku murmured, realization dawning on him as he looked to the monk. “No thank you, Mr. Monk,” he said politely. 

Their customer chuckled with mirth and then looked to the turtle hermit. “Master Roshi, it’s been ages since you trained.”

“Yes, it has,” Roshi agreed. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Always nice to visit old friends. How is the training with these young ones going?”

“It’s too early for me to say, really,” the master declared, his hand scratching his chin as he went deep into thought, “but I think that they are showing great promise.”

“Did you hear that?” Krillin laughed, him and Goku joining hands as the Saiyan child repeated, “Great promise.”

“If they get themselves in gear,” Roshi started, “they’ll be ready for the World Martial Arts Tournament.”

Raditz’s brow quirked up at that. A tournament? For martial artists? On this planet?

The monk looked shocked. “Oh! That’s only eight months from today.”

Krillin yelled out, “The World Martial Arts Tournament?”

“What is that?” Goku questioned.

“You’ve never heard of it?” Krillin asked in disbelief. Goku nodded, and Krillin explained. “It’s where all the greatest fighters in the whole, wide world meet up and compete with each other in the tournament to determine who’s the absolute best.”

“That absolute best? That’s great!” Goku cheered.

The promise of the tournament had become an excellent incentive and motivator for the two boys to train diligently. Even the tournament would be part of their training, Master Roshi telling the boys not to go in thinking they’ll win. The arrogance would blind them. Besides, there were other impressive warriors on the planet. Roshi already seemed to possess skills and wisdom. Even Raditz could admit that.

The boys and Roshi were on their way to deliver the rest of the milk across the village, completely other training drills along the way. At this point in the day, Raditz was fairly certain that this Master Roshi could take it from there. It was the end of the delivery, and Roshi informed them that they would be delivering milk every day up until the tournament and that that was only a part of their early morning training. He would get those boys into shape and prepare them for the tournament where they would learn the art of battle.

Roshi noticed Raditz hovering before the Saiyan was taking off in another direction. Goku looked up, surprised that his brother was leaving. “Hey, big brother, where are you going?” Little Goku called out to him.

Raditz smirked at the boy. “Train hard, Kakarot,” he ordered. “I’m going to tell Vegeta and Nappa about this tournament. We will be there to watch how you’ve grown. Make us proud.”

This made Goku grin, and he nodded to the older Saiyan and looked to his master. “Let’s keep going.”

The hermit’s and Saiyan’s eyes met as they nodded to each other, both having this mutual understanding of what needed to be done. Raditz then took off for Kame House. He needed to pick up something before he located his Saiyan comrades. He’d leave the training in Roshi’s hands.

* * *

Raditz made it back to the Kame House, Launch relaxing outside and starting a garden. The Saiyan smirked. She really knew how to make herself at home. The woman heard him touch down and turned around to see who it was. “Oh, Raditz,” she gasped, “you startled me. Where are the others?”

“Training still,” the Saiyan replied. “I just came to grab the capsule Bulma sent me with and return to the other Saiyans.”

“It’s still so hard to believe you’re an alien,” Launch pondered, recalling their conversation from the day they met. It had been explained to her then that Raditz and Goku were aliens. “You’re little brother is just an angel. He was so good when he fell asleep with me last night. Such a dear.”

Raditz nodded and went inside ignoring how the woman chattered on so calmly like his mother. He found what he was looking for and then returned out into the open, ready to fly off. Launch was staring at him with a bright smile. Raditz didn’t know what to say, so he opted for, “Take care of yourself, Launch, and watch out for the old man.”

Launch seemed to be caught off-guard by that statement, but then beamed and closed her eyes. “Oh, he’s harmless.”

“Right,” Raditz remarked, not willing to smear Roshi’s name much more than that. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

He took off to the sky, Launch waving at him as he started to head off the island. “What a nice man,” she hummed before her noes reacted to the dust Raditz had kicked up. The woman sneezed, her hair becoming blonde as she glared up at the departing Saiyan. “I’ll teach him to run from me!”

She raced to grab a gun, shooting it directly up at Raditz. The bullet got closer and closer to meeting its Saiyan trajectory, but Raditz surprised the woman by catching the bullet. He smirked devilishly at her before he flicked the bullet to the ground next to the woman who jumped out of the way. Launch looked up at the sky, Raditz now looking like a small dot before grinning in entertainment. “I’ll get you yet, you bastard.”

* * *

Raditz was able to track his compatriots down to a domed house deep in the city. He could sense their energies fluctuating, most likely the two sparring. Well, that was good. Raditz could use a good spar. Even though it had just been a few days, he already felt a bit rusty. The added weight while walking up the mountain staircase did nothing for him. Thankfully, the old man let him keep the extra weight. At least he was undergoing a bit more pressure than the other two.

When the long-haired Saiyan landed, Nappa glanced over at him before he bursted out in laughter. “Holy shit, Raditz. The hell are you wearing?”

“A bit more weight,” Raditz returned casually. “It’s not much, but it’s the way this planet deals with the low gravity. They can’t change the gravity, but they can add to their weight.”

Nappa was about to retort, but then Bulma came outside bring lemonade as per her mother’s request. She noticed the third Saiyan and smiled. “Oh, hey Raditz. You came. I thought you were going to see that old hermit with your brother.”

“I take it training was going well,” Vegeta stated, “since you thought it best to leave. I know you were skeptical.”

“Yeah, really skeptical,” Raditz laughed, “but the man understands how to train the body and how to encourage the boys. Kakarot even has a rival.”

“Feh,” Nappa scoffed. “As if a human could rival a Saiyan.” Both Vegeta and Nappa glared at the Saiyan, and he noticed. “But whatever. If you think it’ll help the brat, then it’s fine.”

“It will help,” Raditz defended. “Actually, he plans to get them ready for this tournament they have here on Earth, the World Martial Arts Tournament. The strongest fighters of this planet will be fighting, and the turtle hermit wants the boys to compete.”

“The WMAT,” Vegeta murmured, and the three outside looked to him.

“You had a vision of it?” Raditz questioned. There was no sense in pretending that no one else knew.

Vegeta looked away and sighed. “Not this one, but a future one, one where Kakarot is much older. This will be a repeat function for him. I want to see. We should attend.”

Bulma looked panicked. “You…want to compete?”

All three Saiyans laughed at that, and Vegeta shook his head. “Not to compete,” he stated to assure her.

Nappa chortled. “If we were to compete, the humans would rip like paper.”

That made Vegeta roll his eyes, especially because he made Bulma feel even more nervous. “Ignore him. We have much more control over our power than Nappa is implying. The point is that the competition wouldn’t even be a challenge.” The other reason Vegeta wanted to go was to see what the planet had to offer. Earthlings could end up being their allies in a fight against Frieza should the tyrant ever find them. He needed to know what they had to work with.

Bulma breathed out a sigh or relief, though her attention was then drawn to the large, purple shell Raditz was sporting. “Um, Raditz…what are you wearing?”

Nappa snickered at the woman’s remark, thinking it would offend Raditz like he had, but Raditz just regarded the woman with a smile. “Actually, it was that Roshi’s idea. It’s how he’s training the boys.”

“With turtle shells?” Nappa screamed. “That’s stupid!”

“Not with turtle shells,” Raditz explained. “With weight, like I said.”

“Weight?” Bulma repeated. “Oh!” she exclaimed, an idea hitting her. “Hey, Vegeta, that’s a great idea.”

“Huh?” the prince responded, uncertain as to what idea she had. Bulma didn’t really give him an answer as she walked over to him and handed him her wallet, Vegeta looking at the teenager like she was crazy. “What the hell is this for?”

“I have an emergency card. Buy some weighted training clothes,” Bulma suggested, smiling brightly. “For all of you. Seriously, it’s the least I can do for you while you’re waiting for me to the study the ship. I don’t know if it’ll help, but it can’t hurt either. Do you know how to use the computer, search for stuff and order online?” Vegeta nodded, not really surprising her anymore. “Okay, good. I’ll just get back to work. You guys get the equipment you need.”

“It won’t do shit,” Nappa scoffed.

Bulma frowned, but Vegeta responded with, “It is something. Besides, when the gravity room in finished, we can wear the gear as well, and that will make it even more challenging for us.” He forced his cheeks not to heat up when Bulma beamed at him and went back inside the house. The Saiyans then took a training break, following her in, but going to find a computer to search for what they needed.

Panchy had gotten them set up in her husband’s office so that they could order the weighted gear. The three Saiyans piled around the computer, Vegeta sitting at the helm to choose what to order.

“K…Kee…lo?” Raditz pronounced. “What the heck is that?”

“A measure of weight,” Vegeta stated. “I weigh about fifty-six kilos.”

Both Saiyans looked to Vegeta, Nappa stating, “You foresee the weirdest shit.” Vegeta scoffed. “Know what we are?”

“No,” Vegeta stated. “It doesn’t matter, though. This clothing comes in set weights. We’ll have to get the highest in each.”

“The girl was foolish,” Nappa joked. “Giving up this card. We’re probably going to order more than she thought.”

Though Nappa had stated something Vegeta had already known, a strange sense of guilt weighed over the prince. In a way, he felt they were taking advantage of her and her hospitality, and that was not something Vegeta wanted to do. He should get the girl something, he decided, as a thank you, and because they were on a clothing site his eyes had been drawn to jewelry. “Vegeta?” Raditz questioned, but he said nothing more than that.

“What the heck are you doing?” Nappa asked, appalled.

“It’s a ‘thank you’ gift,” the prince stated. “She has done a lot for us.”

It didn’t matter that Bulma was the prince’s intended. He scoffed at Vegeta’s need to please her, but other than that he remained quiet. Who was he to question his prince?

After Vegeta picked out something for Bulma, he and the other Saiyans chose different gear that they could wear. By the time they finished, they had done the math. It wouldn’t make any real difference to them, but when the gravity room existed, it would. It would help quite a bit.

* * *

Later in the evening, Bulma finally decided to head to bed. She had spent the whole day looking at the ship, and already she had noticed alloys that would help in the construction. She needed to study the material, find out it’s limitations. But these pods belonged to the Saiyans. Bulma didn’t want to tear one apart unless she had explicit permission. Eventually, she’d ask Vegeta. Most likely, he’d be okay with it. Besides, once she knew the material and its limitations, she and her father could synthesize more and create a new and better ship. That would be good incentive.

A soft purr distracted her, Bulma stopping by the living room. She expected to see her father after hearing his little kitten, Scratch, purr, but she found Vegeta sitting on the couch, the kitten rubbing up against him. The Saiyan prince looked down to regard the pet, gently reaching to touch it with his gloved finger. Scratch looked up at the Saiyan and then nuzzled against his finger before curling up next to the prince.

It had to be the most adorable thing Bulma had ever seen.

This had come as a complete surprised to the teenager, the small cat never away from her father. It just went to show her that even Scratch seemed to love Vegeta. In just a couple of weeks, Bulma had noticed her parents’ demeanor towards the alien. Her mother loved everyone, so that wasn’t as telling, but her father? He would have needed to win the man over. Sure, he was friendly and respectful, but when it came to Bulma he was protective to an extent. Something about Vegeta must have spoken to her father. Maybe it was because Vegeta hadn’t gone to anyone about her skills yet. Her father was very adamant about her living a normal, teenaged life. In all honest, she wanted that too.

Vegeta’s eyes landed on her, as if he had felt her watching him. Bulma blushed at be caught staring, her eyes falling to the kitten. The silence between them was making her all the more nervous. “I’m surprised the little guy wandered away from my father,” Bulma stated, trying to get rid of the awkwardness. “He’s usually not good around strangers.”

The prince chuckled. “I’m no stranger,” he reminded her. “I’ve gone to the lab to speak with your father a few times. He has seen me there.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t call him ‘it,’” Bulma teased.

Vegeta grimaced. “I wouldn’t,” he told her. “Saiyans are very attuned to other animals.” He gently pet the kitten’s back with his finger, his unwound tail taking it’s place around his waist.

 _Oh, that makes sense,_ Bulma thought when she saw the furry appendage. _No wonder they were living in the wilderness._

She smiled at Vegeta before making a joke that came out way worse and more flirtatious that she had anticipated. “Is there room for another kitty?” When the words left her mouth, she flushed scarlet, Vegeta’s brow raised in humor as he took pleasure in her embarrassment. “I mean…”

“Just have a seat, Bulma,” Vegeta responded, his voice light. He decided not to torture her for the remark, at least this time. He wouldn’t always let her get away with such remarks.

Bulma did as he said and leaned against him. She was a little tense, not sure of how to proceed. She accepted that she and Vegeta were sort of dating now, per her standards, but she was certain his mind was already a step ahead. In a way, she felt like she was on display. That didn’t matter, though, as Vegeta wrapped his arm around her, his free hand gently scratching the purring black kitten next to him. For the moment, Bulma felt so at peace that her mind shut off and allowed her to rest.

* * *

A month went by in a breeze, many things changing. First off, the Saiyans had gotten their new weighted training clothes. Vegeta had gotten a blue gi, practically matching his spandex, consisting of long blue pants and white shirt that clung to his form very well. Over the shirt, he had a vest, also blue. He wore a gold-colored belt, his boots still white, and ankle and wrist bands, one white and one blue. He also had these weighted, black, fingerless gloves contrasting his normal white ones that he barely ever removed. Nappa and Raditz had the same setup, though Nappa had gone for a black and gold color scheme, and Raditz had decided to go for a green and blue scheme, the former general teasing him for his sentimentality. In total, each of them were now wearing about an additional seventy-five kilos. Bulma had been amazed by that number, but once again the aliens had assured her it didn’t even scratch the surface of what they could handle. It pushed her to study faster.

Bulma had gotten permission from Vegeta to scrap his pod and study it. He didn’t say much about it other than that, but the truth was he never intended to leave the planet. If he ever did, he was certain the woman would harass him until she brought him, and he would not enter space while Frieza was still out there. It was a huge difference from how he felt before where he had intended to go and face Frieza alone one day, but he and Bulma were now growing closer, and his ambitions had shifted a bit. Besides, he had not experienced any terrible visions, not as of yet. Anything he had seen had all been pleasant and regarding his life on this planet. Call him selfish, but he wanted to allow those feelings to wash over him. He was not about to launch himself into space ill-prepared.

The Saiyan prince and Bulma were now officially what she would call a couple. They would spend time together when he wasn’t training and she wasn’t working on equipment designs. She was still struggling with the ideology of the gravity room, but at least she had the Saiyan pods. First, she knew she’d have to create a much bigger ship in order to facilitate the gravity simulation; however, there was one problem.

The calculations were seemingly impossible to solve.

Bulma groaned in frustration. She had had been working on the calculations for over a week now, and that was the last bit of prep work. If she could synthesize a compound never seen before on Earth, then she should have been able to make the stupid numbers on the page work together. But they weren't, and she was starting to get stressed.

Her hand went to the pendent Vegeta had picked out for her, rubbing it like she did any time she was stressed and frustrated. The gesture had been really sweet on his part. It wasn’t anything expensive. Vegeta had explained that it was her money he used for it, so he thought a simple design to be best. It was a circular pendent, a white, sparkly opal, surrounded by deep, blue sapphire stone. Bulma loved it, wore it every day and only took it off for bed. It wasn’t the fanciest gift she had ever received from guys trying to vie for her attention, but it was much more meaningful, Vegeta’s way of telling her he appreciated what she was doing for him and his people. It was hard to believe the prince of a warrior race was such a romantic, but then again he did say the visions did play a huge part in his behavior towards her. Part of her felt like it wasn’t deserved for the current version of herself had done nothing to tame his wild heart, and yet she was the one receiving all of his subtle affections.

Vegeta entered the room just as Bulma threw the notebook over her shoulder.

The Saiyan couldn’t help the twitch of his lips as he walked inside. “Seems like someone needs a break,” he crooned.

Bulma sighed at the Saiyan teenager’s playful words, shock by the fact that they came out of his mouth. Usually, it was the other way around. “Vegeta, I’m busy.”

“You won’t figure it out in your condition,” he stated, placing a hand on her shoulder. She jumped, whipping around to look at him. He offered her a simple grin. “Besides, it’s a nice day. You shouldn’t be held up in here all day.”

“I guess you have a point,” Bulma reluctantly admitted. “I don’t even have a clue as to what I’d want to do.” She thought on it for a bit, struck by a realization. “Wait a minute. You haven’t seen the city yet…or have you?”

“I have not,” Vegeta replied, “other than what we saw the day you brought Nappa and I here.”

“Then let me show you around,” she suggested, a smile on her face. “You’re right, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten out. I can show you all my favorite places to go and we can get something to eat. There’s also a bowling alley.”

“Bowling alley?” Vegeta repeated. “What’s that?”

Bulma chuckled. “Well, you’ll have to hold back your strength, but I’d like to play. It’s a game. You throw a heavy…well, heavy for me…ball to knock now a series of pins. It’s fun.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Vegeta responded, smirking and crossing his arms. “We can do it all.”

Bulma was surprised. “Really? You mean you don’t have a crazy training schedule for the day?”

“No.” Well, technically, that was a lie. Nappa and Raditz had opted to go training in the mountains, and they had asked Vegeta if he wanted to join them. They wanted to go all out with their powers, and they couldn’t do it at Capsule Corp. Vegeta had been tempted to go, but as lunch came around, he did not get a chance to see Bulma. The past week, he hadn’t seen much of the woman. He decided, instead, to take advantage of the fact that he and Bulma could be alone. He didn’t give a reason to the others as to why he was staying behind, but he was pretty sure they understood, Nappa muttering curses under his breath.

The teenagers went out into the city, Bulma pointing out places to Vegeta including shops and restaurants she usually frequented. She introduced Vegeta to new foods she had never tasted, though she hadn’t eaten much. Truthfully, she ate when they went to the first place, a Chinese food restaurant whose egg rolls were really delicious. Vegeta had not expected that. He had been used to raw food because of the protein content. Of course, he didn’t live in the wild anymore, and where he was currently living food was always prepared and cooked, though occasionally, he and the other Saiyans were able to sneak in some raw meats.

As Bulma brought him to more and more places, Vegeta felt himself growing full, and he realized there was more to these Earthling cuisines than just protein that would contribute to their caloric intake, and they could eat much more of it. Bulma found enjoyment in just watching the subtle changes of Vegeta’s expressions each time he tried something new and foreign which, at this point, was practically everything her mother hadn’t already cooked. Each new flavor would amaze him, his eyes widening only a fraction as his blinked in disbelief. By the end of the day, Bulma had pretty much took note of all his favorites.

Then the two ended up at the bowling alley. Despite knowing she was going to lose to the Saiyan, Bulma actually did have fun and tried her hardest. Vegeta was right when he said that Nappa exaggerated their level of strength. It seemed the prince had complete control and could hold back when it came to the human spot. Instead of pandemonium and destroyed lanes, Vegeta simply got many strikes, sweeping the board with a perfect score.

Because of this, a random teenager approached the couple accusing Vegeta of just getting lucky. Bulma hesitated, wondering how Vegeta would react, but he just smirked at the stranger and said, “Run along now, _boy_.” It had no doubt infuriated the guy who decided to challenge Vegeta right then and there to a game. The Saiyan looked back to Bulla, not exactly seeking permission. She could tell when their eyes met that Vegeta was not going to pass up any challenge, no matter how ridiculously outmatched his opponent was. Well, their games were over anyway, so she didn’t exactly mind. Still, she walked over to him and kissed his cheek, saying out loud that it was for luck, but the look she gave him made Vegeta laughed and shake his head. The woman knew he didn’t need luck; she knew he’d win. The kiss was simply a warning not to take it too far. Of course, Vegeta didn’t care about this. He was prepared to assert his dominance over the disgruntled kid. In all fairness, he had been warned.

* * *

After Vegeta had thoroughly humiliated the Earthling male, he and Bulma went to the pier, Bulma getting them ice cream, yet another confection Vegeta had enjoyed. As Vegeta quickly made work of his simple vanilla cone, he and Bulma leaned on the wood of the pier and looked out over the water. The two were silent for a while, Vegeta enjoying the peaceful atmosphere while Bulma’s mind was racing a million miles a minute with questions wishing she could just enjoy the moment.

Vegeta sensed her agitation. “What’s wrong?”

Bulma chanced a glance at the Saiyan who was still staring at the liquid beneath them as if he had never asked a question. “It’s really nothing,” she told him. “It’s just, I’ve been meaning to ask you some stuff.”

“About what?” the Saiyan responded.

“Just our relationship,” Bulma whispered. Vegeta finally turned his head towards her, his expression neutral. “Just, I know we’re exclusive,” she told him. “That’s the only part I really know, but you know so much more about ‘us’ than I do. Like, what do you know about me already? Do you know everything I’m going to say, every argument we’ll have? When will we become more? Are we in love? Do we ever have kids?”

Vegeta didn’t answer right away. He was very careful about how to respond. “I don’t wish to scare you off with answers regarding those last few questions.”

“Fair enough,” Bulma accepted, her expression softening. “What about the rest of it?”

“I don’t know everything about you,” Vegeta assured her. “Anything I know has been through sporadic pictures. I’ve seen many moments between us, but not each and every moment we’ve shared. There is still a lot about you that baffles me.”

“So, then, what do you know?” Bulma asked.

Vegeta fully faced her, turning away from the water. “I knew about your parents, where you live, what room becomes ours one day. I can navigate the grounds and all. I’ve seen us swim multiple times. I’ve seen merely a few arguments, but I know that doesn’t mean we won’t have several.” He smirked at her and she smiled back. His brow then furrowed in concentration. “I know you have a sister named Tights whom you barely see, that she’s a writer. I knew that you were a genius and that you hadn’t told your parents about your adventure because you were afraid they would either accompany you or wouldn’t let you go, and, whatever the wish would have been, it was something you needed to face yourself.

“And I know that I’ve watched you many times, how you take your coffee, how you look when you’re deep into your work. I didn’t know that you and your family were keeping your intellect a secret. I know what kinds of movies you like, that we’ll sometimes watch them on Friday nights, though we looked a bit older. We could always start now. I know, Bulma, without a shadow of a doubt, woman, that you challenge me.”

“Woman?” Bulma repeated, certain she heard him call her that other times before. “Is that like my nickname?”

Vegeta blushed slightly, looking away as he crossed his arms. “Yes,” he admitted. “You don’t have a set one for me. You just call me whatever the hell you want, most days. Again, in those visions we appear much older. I’m pretty sure that whoever existed in those visions needed more time to adjust.”

“So basically, there’s a lot of blanks that need to be filled in,” Bulma said happily, and also feeling slightly relieved. “To be honest, I thought you’d have some insane roadmap you expected to follow.”

“That’s not how it works, Bulma,” Vegeta reminded her. “My visions have already changed so much. I’ve made different choices as it is. Everything is different, its own journey. I told you that I wouldn’t hold you to the visions, and I meant it. Even now that we’re ‘dating,’ I don’t expect you to rush yourself on my account. Your ‘getting to know each other’ plan is best for now.”

“Right,” Bulma agreed. “So really, you won’t tell me about kids?”

Vegeta’s eyes cut over to her. “I’m not rushing that aspect of our relationship.”

His curtness made Bulma chuckle. “No, I know. I’m not ready for that, either. It’s just, I never imagined myself as a mother. I know I’m young, but I know I’m a pretty selfish person.”

“This selfishness you speak of is superficial,” he stated. “Underneath it all, you are a very selfless person with a welcoming heart. You’d have to be to put up with me, after all.”

Bulma smiled at his sincere honestly, her heart skipping a beat at the contented, confident look Vegeta flashed her way. She couldn’t doubt him, trusted everything he had just told her. The two continued to watch the sunset as Bulma finished her ice cream. Bulma leaned against Vegeta’s shoulder when she finished. After a while, she thanked him for the day. The Saiyan merely grunted his response saying nothing else. It was a charming way to end such a peaceful day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Before anyone asks…I had not meant to imply any Raditz X Launch moments in this fanfic. Actually, I had planned on creating an OC similar to Launch’s kind and demure demeanor, but not on purpose, and then writing this chapter…I could actually see it. But I’m not sure I want to go there. So I’ll leave that up to those of you still reading to decide if they want Raditz X Launch or Raditz X OC. I’m sitting here in disbelief over how this might actually be a thing in this story…just can’t believe it…lol! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> By the way, I have to say I’m glad they have calculators on google. That help me with the pounds to kilograms conversions.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Dragon Ball Z or any of the characters, and now that I’ve thought on it, I probably should have been saying Dragon Ball all this time, too XD Anyways, I think we all know they’re they are part of the same universe, so there you go!

_Everything around him felt wrong. The void he was in was dark and cold and he felt nothing around him. He could barely open his eyes, the pressure overwhelming before it eased and he felt like he had been dropped into a pit. When he opened his eyes, he was certain that was the truth._

_Vegeta had no idea where he was, but he finally could get a good look. It was a familiar place, the one from his last dream when Frieza tortured him and he felt unimaginable pain. His heart began to race when he realized that he was trapped, bolted down to a table. It was translucent, like it wasn’t really there, but he could_ feel _it. Like last time, he could even feel the stagnant air around him._

_“Why, hello Vegeta.” The Saiyan prince sneered as the visage of Frieza appeared before him. His tail tightened around his waist. “Are you not going to greet me?” the illusion asked. Vegeta’s dark eyes remained on his. Frieza sighed in disappointment. “Tsk, tsk, Vegeta. After I went through all the trouble of arranging this little visit, you act so cold. You should be kinder to your host.”_

_“What the fuck are you talking about?” the prince hissed angrily. “You’re in my mind, a dream.”_

_Frieza grinned ironically at that. “Do you mean to tell me that after our last encounter, you believe this to be a dream?” The Arcosian tyrant laughed behind his hand. “Why, that has to be the most priceless thing I’ve ever heard. You should know better, princeling, that dreams can’t hurt you. Only_ I _can do that.”_

_Vegeta felt his stomach churn at the idea. No, this couldn’t be real. He would wake up at Capsule Corp., and this would all go away. “I don’t know what you are, but you aren’t real,” Vegeta challenge._

_Amusement still danced in Frieza’s eyes as he slowly approached Vegeta. Subconsciously, Vegeta’s muscles tensed in anticipation of whatever the monster would do. Vegeta’s eyes never left Frieza, even when Frieza lied his hand on Vegeta’s abdomen. The prince struggled, but to no avail. Whatever he was trapped in would not free him. Wasn’t he supposed to control his dreams? He could make Frieza go away._

_A blast left Frieza’s hand, Vegeta crying out and spitting up blood. His eyes widened over the painful sensation, his muscles tightening even more. Frieza simply laughed at the pathetic display, watching the blood flow from the prince. “I assure you, Vegeta,” he darkly whispered, “I am_ very _real.”_

_Vegeta believed him. “H…How?” he managed to groan out._

_“Since I couldn’t find you,” Frieza began, “I had to find some other way to reach you. Tell me, prince, have you ever heard of a race called the Scyphoya.”_

_Recognition flashed in the prince’s eyes. “The…jelly people from the Mikronessa planet…”_

_“Oh, good,” Frieza droned. “At least I know your father was teaching you_ something. _”_

_Vegeta glared at Frieza, but the tyrant flashed out of view, going behind him and the table. It unnerved Vegeta. He had no idea what he was about to do. “What do…” he growled out, “they have to do with anything?”_

_“Everything, Vegeta,” Frieza answered, his voice becoming sinister as he repeated, “everything.”_

_The Saiyan roared out in pain as the table disappeared, his arms and legs now in chains, as Frieza pulled on of the appendages back, hitting it in away for his right arm to break. Vegeta tried to catch his breath, but Frieza’s assault continued as his claws dug into Vegeta’s back. What the hell was happening? There was no way this wasn’t a dream._

_“Hm, don’t like that, huh?” Frieza pondered. “Well, Vegeta, I could ease your torture if you just told me where to find you. That way, I would simply come to collect you. You were a naughty boy, leaving all those years ago. But you think I’m a dream, anyway. If that’s the case, telling me would end your torture and you’d have nothing to lose.”_

_“I don’t trust you,” Vegeta sneered, now standing face to face with the monster. “Even if this were a dream, I’d never tell you. But given what you’ve already told me, this is real. How are the Scyphoyans involved?”_

_“Such a primitive race,” Frieza reminisced. “Easy to conquer. They have no idea_ what _I am. I brought a few back with me. They have the most interesting ability. My team has termed it the ‘nerve net.’ It’s got an interesting ring, doesn’t it, prince.”_

_“Fuck off,” Vegeta retorted._

_“Manners, princeling, manners,” Frieza demanded, his tail slithering around Vegeta’s throat, choking him to silence him. “That’s better.” Vegeta gagged as his airway was constricted. “You need to listen for the answer to your question. This primitive race has the ability to link themselves to each other with this mental net, and that is how I am communicating with you today.”_

_“Our minds are linked?” Vegeta questioned, appalled and disgusted at such an invasion._

_“Yes and no,” Frieza told him. “You see, when they link to another individual it’s their form of physical connection. They’re like phantoms, walking around as if in a daze, practically zombies. They really don’t have much of a brain at all, but their nervous system, this net, connects them, allowing them to communicate with their whole body, a full, mental body. Of course, this connection can only happen when they’re asleep. They spend most of their day asleep, which is how we acquired them. My research team found a way to use their ability to forge a connection between us.”_

_“Bas…” Vegeta huffed out, trying to remove Frieza’s tail with his one good arm. Frieza’s grip only tightened making Vegeta cough. “…tard.”_

_“And what’s better is this race theoretically lives forever, because they sleep most of the time and their bodies conserve all these nerve net impulses. Of course, we won’t be doing this every night. I am much too busy searching the galaxy for you. But remember this, Vegeta. The longer I_ don’t _find you, the worse your torture will be here, and_ when I find you. _”_

_Vegeta, who had never really hardened himself to conceal his emotions, could not contain his shock. He couldn’t steel himself as Frieza’s torment rained down heavily upon him. He kept struggling, not understanding why he couldn’t fight back. It was his mind. He should be able to do something. His eyes widened in true fear. Unless this was the strength gap between him and Frieza. Or maybe, Frieza’s scientists found ways to manipulate this Scyphoya’s ability to create these objects per Frieza’s will._

“Vegeta!”

_Both Frieza and Vegeta froze, both surprised when they heard a panicked, feminine voice. “Who the devil is that?”_

_Vegeta’s eyes snapped to Frieza. “You could hear that?”_

_The tyrant glared over at the prince. “Who is she?”_

_The question alone had mildly entertained Vegeta. “You mean, even though we’re connected, you can’t read my mind?”_

_“No,” Frieza admitted. “This connection is more of a physical connection existing in your mind. But don’t be coy. I can still do THIS!” Vegeta nearly broke when Frieza yanked his tail, pulling and twisting enough to hear the bones shatter. “Now, tell me whose voice that is or I will make the pain oh so much worse.”_

_“Never,” Vegeta denied him, clenching his eyes shut, the pain making his head throb._

“Vegeta, please wake up!”

_Vegeta grimaced. Bulma sounded distressed. He could only imagine what she had to be seeing. Nothing was truly happening to his body, but it had to be reacting, thrashing around. He could only pray that he didn’t hurt her. Only one of them needed to be experiencing this horror._

_“Who. Is She?”_

“Vegeta!”

* * *

Frieza was pushed out of Vegeta’s mind, the prince gasping for air as he woke up. His eyes immediately went to Bulma’s tear-stricken orbs. She looked so scared. He couldn’t blame her. He, himself, was beyond terrified. Vegeta pulled Bulma towards him instantly and hugged her so tightly. It was thanks to her that he was awake, that Frieza had been forced out of his mind. If not for her…he didn’t want to think about it. A tear escaped him without his knowledge, and Bulma looked up at him concerned. She didn’t mention in, but whatever Vegeta had dreamt must have torn him apart.

“What happened?” she asked quietly.

“Nothing,” Vegeta said a bit too quickly. “It was just a bad dream.”

Bulma didn’t buy it. She sort of did, but how he reacted to the dream had been so violent. It had been frightening. She had been forced awake, hearing his screams from her room. Once again she was surprised he hadn’t woken anyone else up. Whatever was happening, it just didn’t seem normal.

“Are you sure that’s all it is?” she skeptically asked.

“Yes,” Vegeta lied, still not releasing her. “I did not mean to wake you.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Bulma assured her, her hand gently stroking his face and gliding down his neck. Vegeta flinched away from her touch, his eyes fearful as they met hers. “You’re really okay?”

“I’m fine,” Vegeta said much firmer, his arms releasing her and crossing over his chest.

Bulma really didn’t want to leave him like this, but he wasn’t giving her much to work with to help him. “Well,” Bulma reluctantly stated, walking back towards the door. She paused, her back against the wall. “I guess I’ll just head back to bed then. Sleep well.”

Vegeta felt his heart beat faster in dread. After what he experienced, he didn’t want to be alone, but he couldn’t tell Bulma that. No, he was terrified to allow his head to hit the pillow. It was possible Frieza would be waiting there for him again in his mind. “Wait.”

Bulma had turned to the door, but turned back to see his terror-filled eyes. Her lips parted slightly in astonishment. Vegeta looked so haunted. The next words that left his mouth struck Bulma to her core and made her fearful as well.

“Please stay.”

Her expression softened when the words reached her ears. Vegeta really was upset over this “dream.” She told herself that it had definitely been more than that. Still, he wouldn’t open up about it, and she really should have left. Seeing him that way, though, made her not want to punish him for lying to her. Whatever it was had shaken him up. Maybe he would tell her later.

“Okay,” she whispered, closing the door. “I’ll stay.”

She walked back over to Vegeta’s bed, slipping under the covers with him, and Vegeta instantly latched onto her that he practically knocked the wind out of her. She glanced back at him through the corner of her eye, not getting a good look, but it didn’t matter anyway. Vegeta buried his face in the crux of her neck, gasping for breath a few times as if he had been struggling moments ago. Once he realized he could breathe normally, he relaxed, but his form remained tense. Bulma tilted her head back to kiss Vegeta’s cheek. He released a sigh of relief and hugged her tighter. “Goodnight, Vegeta.”

The prince didn’t respond. He was too frightened out of his skin to even register anything besides the pain he had felt and Bulma’s comforting scent. He was certain she had invited him to join her in slumber, but there was no way in hell he’d close his eyes. He didn’t think he’d ever want to sleep ever again.

If he did, he was certain Frieza would be there.

* * *

Goku was staring up at the night sky, thankful that the moon wasn’t full. He still couldn’t get over what he had learned over a month before his training with Roshi. It had been difficult to accept, that he had killed his grandfather and had no memory of it, but he had been reassured by Vegeta and Raditz. As long as he stayed away from a full moon, he would be okay and he wouldn’t transform again.

“Hey, Goku, I was wondering…”

The Saiyan sat up and looked over to his rival. Over the month, they had grown closer through their shared experiences as Roshi’s pupils. Krillin had stopped trying to cheat during their few competitions, and they endured all their hard work and labor together, encouraging the other. Lately, in the evening, they had been going on runs on the beach, the change in ground giving them a run for their money. Roshi had explained that the purpose of these runs was to build their endurance. Most of his training had been to build their speed and endurance.

Because it was a nice night, Goku and Krillin had decided to camp outside on the beach. Honestly, Goku missed being outside in the wilderness. Sure, he was outside a lot on the island, but he hadn’t really had a chance to enjoy it lately, concentrating on getting stronger and mourning his grandfather all over again. “Yeah, Krillin?” he responded.

“Well, you’re already really strong,” Krillin grumbled, reluctant to admit it. “Why did you choose to train under Master Roshi?”

Goku blinked at his friend before his expression hardened, growing serious. The look Goku was giving him frightened him. “You know my brother, right?” Krillin nodded. “We’re Saiyans, aliens.”

At first, Krillin laughed at that, thinking Goku was joking, but Goku’s expression remained unchanged. “For real?”

His rival nodded. “There’s this bad guy, Frieza,” he explained. “He killed my family and the other Saiyans a long time ago. I was sent here before that happened, and Raditz, Vegeta, and Nappa found me. Vegeta was the prince of the planet, they told me, but the planet is gone now.”

Krillin looked horrified, nervously stammering, “Y-You m-mean, because of this Frieza guy?”

The Saiyan nodded. “He’s really strong. Vegeta doesn’t think we can beat him now. The others are much stronger than me, so if they’re worried, it won’t be easy. I don’t think he knows where we are, though.”

“O-Oh,” Krillin stated. “Y-You sure about that?”

“Vegeta seems to be,” Goku explained before he grew sad, his tail sagging. “Anyway, I’m here because I need to get stronger. I need to be a better fighter so I can help beat the strong guy when he comes. They always say he’ll probably come with an army. I don’t know what an army is, but it sounds bad. I came to Master Roshi because he trained my grandpa.”

“Your…grandpa?”

Goku nodded. “When I was sent here to Earth, Grandpa Gohan found me and took care of me.” All of a sudden, Goku grew solemn, and it was not a good look for the normally cheery child.

“Uh…everything okay, Goku?” The child shook his head and laid back down, facing away from Krillin. “What’s wrong?”

“I found out that I accidentally killed my grandpa,” Goku weakly said, curling up.

Krillin was shocked to hear such a confession. Goku seemed so innocent. How could he have…? “What do you mean?”

“Saiyans,” he spoke softly, “can transform when there’s a full moon, into a giant monster, an ape. Vegeta and Raditz called it Oozaru. I didn’t know. Grandpa told me not to go out during a full moon because there was a monster, and I wanted to fight the monster. I didn’t know I was…”

“Oh, Goku,” Krillin breathed out, not knowing what to say right away. He honestly felt bad for the child. “It’s okay. It won’t happen again.”

“But it could,” Goku argued. “I don’t even know when the next full moon is…”

Krillin grinned at his friend, though Goku couldn’t see. “Hey, don’t worry about that. There’s charts that can tell us when the full moon will appear, and you’ll know so you can work around it.”

Goku flipped back over, looking uncertain. “Can we really find out?” Krillin nodded, reassuring the spiky-haired boy. A giant grin appeared on Goku’s face. “That’s good. That means it really won’t happen again. Thanks, Krillin.”

“Hey, what are friends for?” the bald child laughed, before smiling sincerely. “Get some rest, Goku. We have to be up early tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Goku whispered. “I know. So, Krillin, what about you? You were training at a temple. What was life as a monk like? Why did you come to train?”

Krillin hesitated, debating on sharing his past. Goku, though, had shared something about his that was difficult for him, so Krillin decided to give his friend some insight. “Well, to be honest, I was the weakest fighter at the Orin Temple,” he admitted regrettably. “I was bullied a lot, so I came here to learn under Master Roshi to get stronger so that I could defeat my bullies and maybe attract girls.”

Goku blinked, not understanding what getting stronger had to do with girls and bullies, but Krillin seemed upset about it. The child grinned at him, offering his friend some consolation like Krillin had for him. “Well, you’re already getting stronger. I can’t wait to fight you in the tournament. I’m sure you’ll meet your goal.”

Instantly, Krillin felt better. “You know, Goku,” the other boy said, “you’re all right.”

“You are too, Krillin,” Goku replied before yawning. “I’m glad we’re training together.”

Goku fell right to sleep, Krillin joining soon after, though after thinking about this training journey he was taking. At first, he had been trying to find shortcuts, had hated the fact that there was another student. He had been so jealous of Goku’s progress, but the fact that the boy was an alien explained a lot. It helped Krillin to taper his expectations a bit, but not much. He’d still try to catch up to his friend. Maybe one day, even though the thought terrified him, he could help his friend fight the Frieza monster. Well, it was nice to dream.

* * *

Frieza had not been lying when he told Vegeta he wouldn’t be visiting every night. He could have chalked it all up to a horrible dream had that been the end of it. It hadn’t. Actually, in the week following that dream, Frieza had visited two more times, torturing Vegeta within an inch of his life, his physical body responding so violently that he would continue to wake up Bulma. He could tell his “girlfriend” was worried about him, but he would not give her answers. Truthfully, Vegeta was trying to hide all of this, and he was also trying to stay awake every night.

Because of this, Vegeta was becoming very edgy and agitated. The mental torture was horrifying alone, especially not knowing when Frieza would invade his dreams. Each time had been a fluke, Vegeta over exhausted from days of ruthless training and then nights of sleeplessness. Nappa and Raditz had noticed something off with the prince. It didn’t take a rocket scientist. At breakfast, on this early morning, even Bulma’s mother had tried to pry information out of Vegeta, lightly touching his shoulder with motherly concern. Vegeta had flinched back, and the two other Saiyans exchanged knowing glances.

Vegeta hit the ground hard, caught off-guard by Nappa, and he glared up at the former general who was descending down from the sky. “Alright, Vegeta, let’s talk,” the man demanded. “What’s with you lately? This isn’t like you.”

“Shut up,” Vegeta growled, sitting up and turning away from the man only to be faced with Raditz. His angered expression softened only slightly as the tall warrior extended a hand out to him. Vegeta accepted the gesture mainly because he didn’t like the feeling of Raditz looming over him.

Raditz looked up to Nappa, both understanding that Vegeta would be more receptive to him at the moment. “Nappa, I can take it from here.”

“Yeah, fine,” Nappa grunted, his eyes softening as he regarded Vegeta from behind. He could see that the prince was tense. Something wasn’t right, and he was pretty sure it had nothing to do with their current lifestyle. The Saiyan headed inside, running into Bulma who looked out into the backyard, concern in her eyes. If Nappa had to guess, Bulma knew something, and whatever it was wasn’t good.

“Vegeta,” Raditz called as the two took a seat at the outdoor table, “what’s going on?”

“Nothing,” the prince lied, not looking Raditz in the eye.

Raditz didn’t believe him. “Is it the visions again?”

Vegeta scoffed a laugh laced thick with derision. “No,” he stated honestly. That was the only part Raditz bought.

“Then what is it?”

The prince’s eyes cut over to Raditz, hate and anger clouding them. “I do not wish to discuss it,” he snapped. “As your prince, I order you to drop this matter and leave me alone.”

The long-haired Saiyan shook his head. “I can’t do that, Vegeta,” he solemnly said, his eyes filled with worry. “You are my brother, and if something is bothering you I’m going to get to the bottom of it. Whatever it is, you don’t have to go through it alone.”

But he did have to go through it alone. He just couldn’t tell Raditz that. It struck his heart when Raditz had called him his brother. The feeling was mutual, but Vegeta couldn’t have Raditz thinking he had the right to pry. Instead, he stood up and regrettably and sadly uttered words that surprised Raditz. “Know your place, third-class.”

Vegeta walked away leaving Raditz stunned. The prince never talked to him that way, never picked at his status. Raditz was born third-class but ranked first. There was never any reason to point it out. Nappa always did, but never Vegeta. Strangely enough, Raditz didn’t feel insulted. If anything, the trepidation he had towards whatever was happening with Vegeta only grew. They needed to figure out what was happening.

That night, a storm was raging outside, and Bulma felt very haunted. She had been up quite late, working on the design of the gravity room. The math was finally starting to come together, the room still no closer to being designed or built, but at least that part was handled. The gravity room was not what made her feel so strange. The late nights she had been spending with Vegeta had.

Vegeta had admitted to Bulma that he had never suffered the kind of abuse he felt in his dreams. That was what he told her the first time he experienced the painful sensations. Now, he wouldn’t even talk to her about it. Each time she woke him up, he’d latch onto her as if she was his lifeline. She would have thought it sweet if not for the overwhelming fear that she could see in the Saiyan’s eyes.

Each time was worse than the last, and she could only imagine what the prince was dreaming. Maybe all his training was coming back to hit him at once or memories of the visions plagued him. PTSD was pretty strange and not all that understood. Still, part of the teenager felt that it was more than that. After all, once awake, Vegeta should have relaxed and felt relieved. If anything, he was more anxious when awake.

As she walked back to her room, she passed Vegeta’s door freezing when she heard him suffering, crying out again and hissing “I will not beg.” Instantly, she was inside, accidentally leaving the door open. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of Vegeta’s body contorting in pain. She could tell whatever he was feeling was excruciating, and he was trying to get away. Bulma didn’t understand. What was happening to him?

Vegeta was thrashing about, but Bulma didn’t care. She reached out to touch his face and it softened, his motions stilled. “Vegeta, can you hear me?”

“Vegeta? Vegeta, can you hear me? You have to wake up now.”

* * *

_Frieza growled when he heard the voice of the woman who had called out for Vegeta each time he stole the prince away for a session. Beneath him, on the floor, Vegeta was facedown and breathing heavily. Frieza’s foot stomped down on him, the Saiyan feeling his windpipe get crushed, eyes widening as the air was forced out of him. Frieza’s eyes narrowed. Vegeta was calm, now. Much too calm. The tyrant couldn’t help but wonder what about the woman’s voice had changed the Saiyan’s demeanor. “I won’t ask you again, Vegeta,” Frieza monotonously said. “Whose voice is that?”_

_“I don’t answer to you,” Vegeta retorted hoarsely only to feel like his spine had been shattered. The pain was blinding, but it was only in his mind. He may feel the sting when he woke up, but at least his body would be intact. That was the only consolation he could take from this nightmare._

_“Vegeta, don’t make me kill you,” Frieza said, deathly calm._

_Vegeta didn’t know if it was possible for that to happen, to feel the pain of death in his mind, but it didn’t matter. After they heard Bulma’s voice again, the deliria took over. “It’s the voice of an angel.”_

_Vegeta passed out._

When he passed out in his mental void, his eyes blinked awake in the real world. He looked up to see Bulma on her knees beside him, tears in her eyes. Her hand was on his face, lightly stroking it. The woman was clearly distressed. It looked like she was about to break.

“Are you ready to tell me what’s going on yet?”

He was. She deserved an answer at least, but it appeared that she wasn’t the only one he alerted this time.

Nappa and Raditz had just entered, and both looked completely alarmed. They must have heard him this time, and a sigh escaped the prince. He sat up, ignoring the tingling sensations flaring up in his back. “Let’s go to the den,” he suggested. “I’m only going to explain what’s going on once.”

No one knew how to take what Vegeta had said. He had not faced them the entire time he informed them what had been happening. Bulma’s eyes once again filled with tears thinking of all Vegeta had endured over the past week. There was no way this could be true.

“You’re not joking,” Raditz breathed out, his voice incredibly quiet.

“Shit,” Nappa hissed, anger seeping in. “All this time… I can’t believe anyone would be so cruel. This seems so below Frieza.”

“It was his only option since he couldn’t find me,” Vegeta stated, his head dropping. “He told me the second to last time that he would have left that race be had it not been for me.”

Bulma finally spoke up, three pairs of eyes landing on her. “What can be done?”

Vegeta’s frightened eyes brightened only slightly. “Just keep waking me up,” he whispered weakly. “That’s the only way.”

“How is it even possible for a race to have that ability?” Raditz questioned. “I mean, I know you told us about the nerve net, but how can it link you to Frieza? Why not all of us?”

Vegeta shook his head. “I don’t have an answer. His scientists did something.”

“It could be because Vegeta’s mind is open a bit more than all of us, because of the visions,” Bulma hypothesized.

It was not an answer Vegeta wanted to hear, but it had crossed his mind a few days earlier. He nodded, agreeing with the woman, but he also believed it had something to do with Frieza’s obsession. The prince had no idea how the alien race’s ability worked or what Frieza’s scientists were able to do, but maybe the answer was simply that Frieza had Vegeta engrained in his mind and no one else. It was a chilling and frightening thought. Now Vegeta really regretted killing all those Saibamen in front of the tyrant that one time.

“In any case,” Nappa stated, “it’s over for the night. We should all turn in, and you should get some rest.” His eyes were fixated on the prince.

Vegeta hesitated, reluctant to go. “It’s fine,” he replied. “I’m just going to stay here for a bit longer.”

His Saiyan companions exchanged wary glances, leery on leaving him alone. Bulma offered them a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, guys. I’ll stay with him.”

That seemed to ease them, but only a bit. They were still in shock over what was happening. “Alright,” Raditz answered. “Goodnight to you both.”

And then Bulma and Vegeta were alone.

Vegeta went to sit on the couch, looking over to her through slanted eyes. “I will not talk about this any longer,” he warned.

“That’s fine,” Bulma agreed, curling up against him, Vegeta gripping her, his hold unusually tight, mainly out of fear. Her hand raised and entangled itself in his hair, Vegeta breathing out through his nose at the contact. He pressed his head against her palm. “It’s going to be okay, Vegeta. I’m here for you.”

She did not receive a response. Honestly, she didn’t expect one. Vegeta was too keyed up, and she was certain he barely heard her anyway. He continued to nuzzle against her, his nose tickling her arm. He wanted to lose himself completely in the comfort, but he refused to allow himself sleep. He knew this was not healthy, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t think he could handle anymore from Frieza, not tonight. At least he’d rest, but he would force himself to stay awake. That was his only defense against the torture.

* * *

Several months had passed, and Goku and Krillin were still going strong in their bizarre training, now wearing an additional twenty-three kilos in the form of small turtle shells. Master Roshi continued to watch over them, impressed with their progress. The two boys were so determined to fight in the tournament that it only compelled them to work harder. Their drive was something to be admired. Their strength and speed were vastly increasing, and not only that. It seemed the two children were getting along, not just as rivals, but as friends. Roshi hadn’t expected them to get along so well, but it only made sense that the two would bond. He wasn’t making it easy on either of them.

Now, the tournament was only one month away, and Goku was growing increasingly excited. For him, though, the tournament met a lot more. It had been a long time since he had last seen his brother and Vegeta, and he was really excited to show them how much he improved. Plus, the WMAT would be a great place to test what he had learned and accomplished, give him an idea of what he needed to do next. He was ready for it.

In fact, both boys were more than ready to learning fighting techniques, and they had tried to get Roshi to teach them. In response, Roshi had given them a challenge of moving a large rock, something he never expected them to do, and both boys were able to accomplish it. As shocked as he was, Roshi also felt a bit of pride, but he did not have a technique to teach them. It had surprised the boys, but Roshi explained that his training style was meant to train their bodies, minds, and hearts past their normal limitations.

“Fighting is just the outer expression of your strength,” Roshi told them. “It’s natural.”

“But, Master Roshi, aren’t their special moves or tricks to win?” Krillin asked.

Roshi grew serious. “You didn’t come here to win. You came here to learn. I already told you both. Don’t aim to win this tournament. Continue to learn. This tournament is only another step in your training. It’s just an introduction. Winning isn’t the point. There’s no point in teaching you special moves until you get the fighting experience, so keep training the same.”

This ideology stunned the boys, but nowhere near as much as what Roshi did and said next. “But, we’re going to make it a little harder,” he told them, taking the shell off his back. Now you’ll be wearing heavier turtle shells.” He let his own shell sit in the ground. “They’re twice the weight.”

Goku and Krillin both fell backwards in shock.

* * *

It was the evening before the tournament when everyone met up again. Bulma was standing with the Saiyans at the check in station, the Saiyans on the alert for their remaining, young member. Raditz was really eager to see his little brother again. It felt like it had been an eternity since he had last seen the boy. He looked over to the prince, Vegeta’s finger tapping on his arm repeatedly. It seemed he was just as excited to see Little Kakarot, although it could also be because of his agitated state. Raditz frowned. This whole mess with Frieza was not helping the prince much.

“Raditz! Veggie!”

Out of nowhere, Goku shot into the Saiyans faster than lightening. Vegeta catching the boy and gaping at him. Where had he come from? The prince looked around and saw a young human chasing after him. “Goku, wait for me!”

Raditz chuckled and took his brother from the prince. “Well, kid, look at you. You grew, both in strength and a few inches in height.”

Goku grinned and laughed at that. “Yeah, and I’m faster too. I can jump really high now.”

“So, I guess the training wasn’t a complete wash,” Nappa scoffed before glaring down at the bald human. Krillin gulped and stepped back. “Who’s the squirt?”

Goku jumped down and placed his hand on Krillin’s shoulder. “This is my best friend, Krillin. Krillin, this is Vegeta. I told you about him. He’s like our brother, too. And that’s Nappa. He’s very cranky.”

Nappa growled at the statement, but Vegeta and Raditz only snickered, nodding in agreement. Goku definitely had the general pegged. “Well,” Bulma said, “he’s not wrong.” That earned her a glare, but Nappa remained silent.

“Oh, yeah, and this is Bulma,” Goku introduced. “She’s Vegeta’s friend.”

Vegeta blushed at that, but quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat. “Where’s your master? I’m sure he didn’t just let you run off.”

Goku hesitated as realization dawned on him. He looked back and blinked before meeting the prince’s eyes. “Um, I just got so excited when I saw you all here that I just ran…”

“Taper that excitement, kid,” Raditz ordered. “It won’t do you well in the tournament.”

“Can someone explain to me what they’re wearing?” Nappa huffed, clearly still bitter about the cranky comment.

“Oh,” Goku stated looking down at his suit. “Launch made these for us to wear today. She said since it’s our first tournament we should look nice.”

Raditz didn’t visibly react, but his mind immediately jumped to thoughts of the woman. It had been months since he had left the island and returned to the other Saiyans. He didn’t regret it, but since being with the others, not a day had gone by where he didn’t think of her. He thought it strange, but his brother mentioning the nurturing, violent, entertaining woman filled him with a strange sensation, one which he was not with all that familiar. _Strange,_ he thought to himself _._ “Is Launch here?”

“Yeah,” Krillin stated. “Master Roshi told her she could stay back on the island if she wanted to, but she said she wanted to come to the tournament, too.”

His heart skipped a beat. _Very strange._

 _“If you want to register for the World Martial Arts Tournament,”_ a voice spoke over a loud speaker, _“please come to the front tables at once. You have until midnight.”_

“Well, it sounds like you boys need to go register,” Bulma stated. “We’ll meet you inside.”

“Inside where?” Goku asked, his head tilting.

“Bulma got us a room in the hotel they have on sight,” Vegeta stated. “The preliminaries don’t start until tomorrow.”

“Sounds like you’ve done your homework.”

The Saiyans looked up and saw the turtle hermit standing with a friendly, young woman. She was smiling brightly, her eyes landing on Raditz. Vegeta regarded his friend with a firm gaze, his eyes trying to dissect what the other Saiyan was feeling. Like him, Raditz kept a stoic mask, but he could tell that the Saiyan was experiencing some emotion he was trying to hide. When the woman greeted him, Raditz nodded, but that was the only acknowledgement she received.

“Master Roshi,” Goku murmured. “I’m sorry I ran away. I was just so happy to see my brothers.”

“It’s fine,” his master assured him. “To be honest, I was just glad to see just how much the training paid off. But, now it’s time to register. I’ll go with you boys.”

“Okay,” Krillin chimed in, the two following Roshi.

The hermit looked over his shoulder. “Launch, you can stay with them. We’ll catch up.”

“Alright,” Launch responded, waving the three off. “Good luck you boys!”

“Thanks!”

When Roshi and the boys left the group, Bulma sighed contently. “It’s good to see them so enthusiastic about the tournament,” she stated. Then she looked to Launch. “They’ve been taking care of themselves, right?”

“Oh, of course,” Launch chimed. “They’re both so dedicated. You should have seen how much they trained. They were up before dawn every morning and in bed long after dusk each night. You should see how much those two boys ate.”

“Oh trust me,” Bulma laughed before smiling at Vegeta, “I know.”

“Hm,” Vegeta grunted, crossing his arms. “We should go wait for Kakarot. Where is this hotel place?”

“Come on,” Bulma replied, taking his hand. “It’s right this way. Um, Launch is it?” The other woman nodded. “You should come with us, too. Heaven knows I’ve been surrounded by a bunch of testosterone lately. We can have some girl time.”

“Unless she sneezes,” Raditz chuckled under his breath.

Bulma overheard, as did the other two Saiyans. “What was that?” Nappa questioned.

“Oh, nothing,” Raditz smirked. “Just thinking out loud.”

Bulma eyed the Saiyan strangely, but decided to ignore him as she and Launch started talking about random things, though mainly about all of the training the boys had gone through. Vegeta was actually surprised that Bulma was so interested in the turtle hermit’s training regime. It was possible, though, that she was trying to get ideas for future equipment, but that didn’t seem right. Maybe she was just interested in training in general, probably because he trained so often. He accepted that thought because, perhaps, despite their differences, Bulma, underneath it all wanted to understand him. That thought was a stretch, but it made him feel light.

Some more humans passed by, going to enter the tournament, Nappa scoffing at the lack of strength he detected. “The kid is going to wipe them all out.”

“Nappa, shut it,” Raditz huffed. “And don’t say anything like that.”

“Why not? It was Kakarot’s mission to begin with.”

Bulma’s conversation with Launch ended, both women looking back. “Huh? Mission? What do you mean?”

Vegeta heaved a heavy sigh and shot a glare at the former general who merely shrugged. “Nothing to worry about, woman,” Vegeta stated. “Just don’t mention it to Kakarot.”

Bulma’s brows furrowed in worry, her curiosity not sated, and this time Raditz spoke. “Basically, Bulma,” Raditz stated, “Kakarot had been sent here to purge the planet of all life as a baby, a mission he has forgotten due to a head injury. Vegeta and I agreed that it is best if he doesn’t find out. He’s still bothered by what happened to his grandfather.”

The woman was horrified, but she shook it off. She had learned over the past few months that the Saiyans had not been a good people, and Frieza was even worse. Vegeta had admitted quite a bit to her about his people, not a lot, but enough. She had chosen to accept him despite the past. Besides, what was done was done. It couldn’t be changed. Everything had clearly worked out for the better, anyway. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell him,” she stated calmly. Launch nodded in agreement when Raditz looked her way.

“As long as we all have an understanding, _Nappa,_ ” Vegeta specified. Nappa crossed his arms and looked away muttering a quiet “whatever.”

Raditz pulled Vegeta close to him and whispered, “Man, whoever you saw him meeting cannot get here quick enough.”

The long-haired Saiyan’s declaration made Vegeta smirk. _Well, actually…_ He decided not to say anything, not now. Everything would fall into place sooner than everyone thought.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

Around the sign in tables, there was a horde or people, all walking around. The Saiyans felt a bit on edge given their past field and Vegeta’s visions, but it wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle. Bulma had been the one to voice his discomfort stating that she hated crowds. That was yet another fact about the woman Vegeta hadn’t known. In all of her visions, she seemed fine when surrounded by people at benefits. He’d have to remember this for the future.

While the kids were registering in the tournament, Raditz was the one to pick up on a familiar energy and face. His eyes narrowed, and he stated to his comrades, “It looks like the bandit made it.”

Vegeta felt a jolt of alarm shoot through him as his eyes landed on the fighter. He was making his way towards the registration desks when he noticed the Saiyans and Bulma there. Surprisingly enough, he actually looked really pleased to see them, and that made Vegeta’s distrust in the man skyrocket. He quickly pushed his way through the crowd, greeting all of them. “Hey, guys, I didn’t know you’d be here!” he exclaimed excitedly. “How’ve you been?”

A strange emotion churned Vegeta’s stomach when Bulma smiled at the guy, but it was the same as any smile she’d shoot even the Capsule Corp. workers. She was about to speak up when Nappa cut in. “What is a weakling like you doing here?”

Yamcha didn’t even seem bothered by the slander. “I’ve been training,” he stated. “I promised to help you guys, remember? So I wanted to work on my form and get stronger. I overheard about the tournament and decided it was a good place to start. Still, I’m surprised you’d be competing. From what I saw, you would take the tournament by storm.”

“We are not participating,” Vegeta finally stated, motioning to Goku. “Kakarot is.”

“I think it’s great,” Little Goku chimed happily, his tail waving back and forth in his enthusiasm. “Maybe we’ll get to fight.”

Yamcha grinned. “Sure, kid, that would be fun.” He exchanged another glance with Vegeta, his eyes full of sincerity. “If you guys are watching, make sure to let me know how I can improve. If the time comes where you need my help, I don’t want to be useless.”

_“I can’t really imagine what’s up out there, but just…if you ever need assistance, I’d help any way I can.”_

When Yamcha had said those words the last time they had interacted, Vegeta had thought the human to be a fool. He had been skeptical of the offer, unsure on whether to trust the human. Still, listening to his humble request now, Vegeta realized that this bandit knew his limitations and he actually _wanted_ to surpass them, especially in case the planet were to ever be invaded. Yamcha still had no inkling of the horrors of the universe or the strength of the enemy, but he wanted guidance. He had offered his help out of genuine altruism.

Vegeta answered him with a nod before taking Bulma’s hand and leading her away from the man. His girlfriend just went along with it, not realizing Vegeta’s jealousy. The prince had to admit, though, that despite his uneasiness, he knew he could trust Bulma to be faithful. No, that’s not why he was fleeing from the desert bandit. His distress came from not understanding the kind of friendship that was being offered to him by someone who was not one of his own.

* * *

It was a quiet night at the hotel, all the fighters getting rest before their battles the next day. Bulma had paid for some of the pricier rooms for their group, the boys staying at the end of the hall with Roshi and Nappa and Raditz sharing a room. Bulma was surprised when Launch stated that she didn’t mind sharing a room with the two men. Actually, Bulma was going to get a two room suite for them so that Vegeta could stay close by. Frieza hadn’t attacked the prince for a while, but that meant nothing. Bulma had to admit she was a little relieved that it was just her and Vegeta. No one else needed to be brought in on this horrible notion.

The Saiyans were strangely calm, and Bulma wondered if it had anything to do with their warrior mentality. She was certain that they were looking forward to viewing the fights. Well, Vegeta and Raditz were. Nappa really didn’t give a crap and kept dissing human strength. Bulma had learned to ignore him on that. In any case, even the Saiyans opted to turn in early, and so Bulma and Vegeta had retreated to their room.

The couple had fallen asleep fairly quickly, Bulma curled up against her boyfriend’s chiseled chest as his tail wrapped around her pajama-clad thigh. Everything seemed normal and tranquil, and Vegeta had finally given in to resting when he could. It also meant that he was drawn into a false sense of security.

That night, Frieza decided to visit him again.

_Vegeta was getting tired of waking up bolted down in his own mind. He glared heatedly into the Arcosian’s amused irises hoping that by thought alone he could destroy the bastard’s mind. Unfortunately, it didn’t work like that. Frieza was the one in control here, and Vegeta felt his pride take a few hits as he mentally acknowledged this travesty. It disgusted him that a coward could hold this much power over him. He was not about to let Frieza know just how much._

_But Frieza already knew. His mental torture of Vegeta proved to be a great stress relief for him. Hearing the monkey’s wails of agony made the fact that he still didn’t know his position just a bit more tolerable. Vegeta was being punished for his treasonous escape. That was enough for now. “I hope you didn’t miss me too much while I was away,” Frieza snickered. Vegeta made no move to respond. “I took a trip this week to visit one of the Saiyans’ old allies. The king didn’t know what had befallen you, so he was useless to me. You remember the Swarons, don’t you, Vegeta? Another one of those self-acclaimed warrior races. They fell like the worthless maggots they were. Don’t fret. They’ve joined your people in the afterlife, now.”_

_Vegeta visibly cringed, his stomach churning as he thought of the innocent lives that were lost. The Swarons had been a good people, partnered with Planet Vegeta for combat purposes alone. Their race was known for their strong warriors, but they were more pure-hearted and more altruistic than the Saiyans. They did not deserve to meet the same fate as their Saiyan brothers._

_The Arcosian noticed Vegeta’s displeasure and grinned maliciously. He started recounting what he did to all of the powerful warriors on the planet, how he tore them apart limb from limb and watched their blood pour from their dismembered bodies. “And wouldn’t you know, it gave me such a great idea for today’s session. After all, whatever happens in here doesn’t affect you out there, remember? And each time, your body is like a blank canvas waiting to be devastated again, and again, and again.”_

_“You sick bastard,” Vegeta hissed, not at all liking the sound of Frieza’s plans. In all honesty, Vegeta wanted to say “kill me now and put me out of my misery.” But he knew he couldn’t die even if he wanted to, and, again, Frieza had the reins. He couldn’t get any more disturbing and ruthless._

_The insult didn’t seem to faze Frieza, but the tyrant was displeased. “On second thought,” he muttered darkly, “I might save such a punishment for a rainy day. But don’t worry, princeling. I’ll come up with a_ very _suitable punishment.”_

Bulma was awoken abruptly by Vegeta’s pained moans. It started off quiet, but then Vegeta was fully yelling, screaming on top of his lungs as he grips his chest, his hand moving down over his heart, trying to claw away at something. _Or someone,_ Bulma thought knowingly as tears fill her eyes. What was this Frieza trying to do? Tear out his heart?

“Vegeta, Vegeta, please…” she begged, trying to force his hand away from the invisible enemy. “You have to get up now, please!”

But Vegeta wasn’t being pulled out as easily in the past. She wondered if the pain was just too immense this time. She didn’t know what to do, but she had to do something or Vegeta could very well die. No matter what this demon said to him, any body, even a Saiyan body, could only take so much pain before the body shut down. Already, she could feel Vegeta’s pulse under his wrist. It had increased so much. He was desperate to escape. She needed to help him escape.

“Vegeta!” she cried louder, over his own screams, and Vegeta started to quiet down. It broke her heart, though, seeing him motionless beneath her, pained whimpers escaping his lips. He would never recover if he knew she saw him like this. Gently, she stroked his face, his breathing returning to normal and his grip on his chest slackening. It seemed this Frieza had given him a break.

_“I will ask you for the last time, prince,” Frieza growled. “Who the hell is this woman who keeps coming to your aid?” Vegeta could barely speak, the pain he was feeling overwhelming all mental sense. Somewhere deep in his mind, he heard whispers telling him he would need to find a way to get used to such pain if he was going to endure this._

_His silence incensed his captor, and Frieza’s bloodied hand moved to grip Vegeta by the neck. The prince didn’t struggle, his body only twitching slightly. “My patience is waning. Who is the woman?” the tyrant shrilled._

“Vegeta, it’s okay,” _Bulma’s voice rang through. This time, Vegeta could hear her over his ragged breathes, his eyes opening, hazy as they looked up. He was about to call out to her when he saw Frieza standing there in front of him. He had yet to wake up, and it wasn’t safe to speak to her._ “I’m right here, Vegeta. Please, just wake up. Come back to me.”

_“Who is she?” Frieza hissed._

_Vegeta gave his tormentor a cocky smile. “Wouldn’t you like to know…”_

Vegeta woke up moments later finding Bulma kneeling over him with tears in her eyes. He was breathing heavily, his hand covering his heart. The woman looked terrified, the two gazing into each other’s panicked eyes. They didn’t have any time to recoup when there was a loud banging on the door followed by the call of “Hotel security! Open up this instant!”

Bulma flashed Vegeta a wary glance before he nodded to her to leave him. The teenager then went to answer the door, very angry guards and hotel guests glaring inside. It seemed Vegeta had woken up the whole floor. Even Nappa and Raditz were there, both looking concerned. Well, at least she wasn’t the only one looking frantic. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in? We’re throwing you out!” one of the officers shouted at the woman.

Blue eyes narrowed at the man, and Bulma crossed her arms, her stance and angered voice actually taking the security guards down a few pegs. “Listen, buddy,” she hissed, “my boyfriend just had a terrible nightmare and we don’t really need this right now, got it? Now, we apologize for the disturbance, but it was an accident.”

The two men looked inside, seeing Vegeta sitting on the bed, still trying to calm his breathing as he held his heart. Bulma ended up blocking their view of the man, her eyes still holding anger, but her expression softened. “Now, can we please go back to bed? Our friends are competing tomorrow, and we all have a big day. If you want, I’ll pay extra if these people demand their money back. It won’t happen again tonight.”

“That won’t be necessary, miss,” the other security guard assured. “Please enjoy the rest of your night.”

Bulma closed the door in their faces, and the guards turned to all the others in the hall. “There is nothing to see here, folks,” he told all of the remaining guests. “Please, return to your rooms.”

Nappa and Raditz didn’t budge as they watched the two men walking away. “Why did you let those two off like that?” the officer who had yelled at the teenager demanded. “Did you actually believe their story?”

“Yes,” the man replied. “The boy I saw may appear young, but I know that look of terror. I was a war vet, and I know night terrors like no other. Those kids weren’t causing a ruckus. That kid has seen something horrible. I know it.”

The two Saiyans eavesdropped and waited for the men to disappear. They could not disagree with the man’s claim, but at the same time they knew it was much more. “What do you think that frost bastard did to him?” Raditz questioned, his voice dropping low.

“Beats the hell out of me,” Nappa replied curtly, though his brow furrowed in concern. “Either way, it wasn’t anything good.”

“There has got to be a way to stop him,” Raditz growled, clenching his fists. “Or at least some way to protect Vegeta.”

Nappa didn’t answer. Honestly, he couldn’t answer. This was not a tactic to which he was familiar, and he definitely had no idea how to combat the invisible lizard. There was nothing they could do, and Nappa was struggling to come to grips with that reality. Despite not being able to stop Frieza, there was one way he could help Vegeta, but he knew no one in their group except maybe the prince himself would agree to. He’d broach the topic the next time he had the prince alone. For now, it was best to turn in for the remainder of the night. As loathe as he was to admit it, Vegeta was in good hands with his intended mate.

* * *

Vegeta was still shaky when Bulma came to bed. She had locked the door, making sure they were secure, and then returned to her prince. He hadn’t moved once, hadn’t looked away from the spot on the hotel comforter, and hadn’t released his chest. His breathing was still heavy, his vision still cloudy. “Vegeta?” The prince tilted his head slightly towards her, so she knew he had heard her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

The prince closed his eyes and shook his head vigorously. He gasped out at the sensation, his neck still sore from Frieza’s grip. His eyes shut tight, he had yet to look the woman. It was so tragic to see the normally proud man reduced to this frightened entity. She needed to tread carefully. Gently, she moved to touch him, but Vegeta reacted so harshly, jumping out of his skin and backing away from the woman. Bulma was surprised by his sudden move.

Vegeta’s eyes finally cleared, reality settling around him, and he realized he had been out of his dream for a while. He had come to, but remained unfocused due to the pain in his heart from Frieza’s beam still resonating within his chest. He remembered clawing at his skin, his hands getting burnt by the shining ki, but he was just so desperate to get it away from his heart. Frieza’s words were ringing true. He could do whatever he wanted to Vegeta in his dream for his real body would remain somewhat unaffected. The pain would register, but Saiyans could take pain and recover. Since it was just pain and not a near-death experience, he didn’t even get a zenkai boost. The prince shook his head. He was starting to realize just how helpless he truly was.

Finally, his eyes settled on Bulma, the blue-haired teen staring at him in shock, her hand still raised in the air. He blinked once, twice, and then held her gaze with his. She reached out for him again, but she stopped right in front of him, not touching him. Vegeta realized that he must have startled her somehow, but he didn’t remember. Reaching out, he took her hand in his and guided her to place her cool palm against his hot chest, and he released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

A smile adorned itself on her shadowed face. “Hey,” she greeted warmly in a whisper. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

Vegeta released a sardonic chuckle. He was never safe anymore.

“Come here,” Bulma lightly ordered. Reluctantly, Vegeta scooted back over to her. Again, she smiled, and her eyes lit. He could get lost in those seas of blue. “Turn around, okay?”

He was skeptical about her demand, but he trusted her. Through all of his visions, she was the one being he could trust above all. He did as she asked with only slight wariness, and he tensed when he felt her hands on his back. Gently, she started rubbing his back slowly, no pressure. Though Vegeta was still on edge, Bulma’s touch was comforting, and so he allowed her to continue her ministrations.

After quite a bit of time, Vegeta had fallen back to sleep while sitting up. Bulma could tell by his even breathing, and she smiled a sad grin of relief, hugging his form tightly before gently coaxing him to lie back down. A blush formed on her cheeks when Vegeta fell back against her, the prince’s head crashing down on her chest. She couldn’t wake him, not when he looked so relaxed and at peace, so she let it slide. Adjusting herself so that she was a bit more comfortable, she cuddled against the prince, falling back into slumber.

* * *

The next morning marked the start of Earth’s most prestigious martial arts tournament. Everyone was up bright and early ready to watch the amazing matches of all the competitors. There were quite a lot of them, which is why there would be a preliminary round. The public wouldn’t be able to watch those. They were free to do as they wanted until the tournament truly began. The fighters, however, would have a busy day.

Vegeta actually liked the way they managed this tournament. As weak as the Earthling race was, anyone could determine the potential of whichever warriors made it to the actual tournament. Who knew how many matches they’d need to fight to get there. It would be a great test of stamina, and even Kakarot would be challenged. He was still a young boy who probably hadn’t been able to contain his own power. He would expend more energy than necessary, though he had plenty of it to spare.

The Saiyans had bid an excited Goku and his friend adieu that morning after Roshi had given them their uniforms to compete. Nappa was still as irritable as ever claiming that the Saiyan armor they brought with them would be better for Kakarot. Goku shook his head saying he wanted to compete in the kind of clothes his grandpa did. Vegeta and Raditz accepted that.

They separated after breakfast so that Roshi could lead the boys to the elimination area. Bulma and Launch were dismayed they couldn’t see the fights, wanting to know how the boys were doing, but Vegeta eased their concerns. Roshi was with them. He could still sense the hermit’s energy in the back. They must have made a special case since the boys were minors. Vegeta already knew that both Goku and Krillin would be making it to the tournament. The bald kid couldn’t have spent all this time training with a Saiyan and not be a skilled fighter.

While they were waiting with the rest of the crowd, a random woman in the crowd approached the Saiyans’ group, a seductive grin lightly her features as her eyes landed on the burliest one. Out of nowhere, Nappa felt a hand glide his arm, his mouth going dry as he turned to snarl at whoever it was that dared to lay a hand on him. To his surprise, it was a human woman, a smirking, handsy, human woman. “Who the hell are you?”

Vegeta chuckled from the side, elbowing Raditz in his and nudging his head over to the pair, his eyes alit with mirth. Raditz’s mouth dropped open, and then he had to cover it before he started laughing. Apparently, this was the moment the two young Saiyans had been waiting for all these years. They both watched in amusement as Nappa flushed red.

“Hey, big guy,” the stranger flirted. “I haven’t seen you compete before. Will you be fighting in the tournament today?”

Nappa refrained from growling in irritation at the audacity of this woman. Instead, he played off his discomfort, cockily stating, “They’re a bunch of weaklings. There’s no one here who is worth my time.” Again, his eyes widened and he flinched as the daring woman slyly slipped a paper up by his shoulder under the padding of the weighted vest he was wearing. He met the crazy woman’s eyes for a brief moment as she winked in him.

“If you don’t find anyone _worth your time,_ ” she whispered confidently yet so low only Nappa could hear, “maybe you’ll give me a call.”

Nappa’s brow furrowed in confusion, not understanding what any of that she just said meant. “Whatever,” he uttered as a response, crossing his arms and looking away from the woman. He heard her giggle, a sound that irritated him to no end, before the stranger finally walked away, her stride just as poised as when she stealthily approached him.

The moment she was gone, Nappa noticed that Bulma was gaping at him, shocked, and his two Saiyan charges were chortling together, barely managing to stay upright. Nappa fumed, angered by the childish display. “What’s so funny?” he hissed loudly, only serving to invoke more of Vegeta’s and Raditz’s raucous laugher.

The former general was about to snap at the boys again when Bulma spoke up softly. “Um…” Nappa’s angered eyes snapped to her instantly, taking the teenager aback. “That woman just hit on you.”

Coal eyes narrowed. How dare the girl state that somehow this weakling, stranger woman attacked him? “She didn’t _hit_ me, and if she had dared to I would have flattened her in an instant.”

“That’s not what she meant,” Vegeta finally interjected, still recovering from his fit of laughter. “What Bulma means is that the woman just offered to be your intended.”

At Vegeta’s words, Nappa’s eyes grew wide and he turned red-faced once again. Bulma noticed, and it amazed her that Vegeta could get such a reaction from the older Saiyan. She couldn’t help but wonder what exactly an “intended” was. All she knew was that the elder’s reaction had Vegeta and Raditz laughing hard again, and then the man began to fume, harshly shouting at the boys to shut up before he tried to sneakily feel for the paper that was in his armor to make sure it was secure. Vegeta noticed the action and smirked. Of course, he knew that Nappa wouldn’t change overnight or really express interest in a human, but he would be interested at least for someone to stroke his ego, and that would be the first step.

* * *

In the back, where all the competitors were, Goku was marveling at the setup around him. He and Krillin stayed together. It was incredibly crowded. There were one-hundred and thirty-seven competitors from around the world. There were too many people to fight in one tournament. So, instead of making all of them draw lots to see who would fight, the preliminary round was broken up into four groups. It was a single elimination round where anyone who fell out of the ring or lost consciousness would be counted out (killing the opponent was strictly forbidden and anyone who did so would immediately be disqualified, and no weapons could be used). Only eight combatants would go on to face each other in the tournament, the top two from each section.

Either by some stroke of luck or some stroke of misfortune, Goku and Krillin were drawn into the same section. Thankfully, the two friends wouldn’t have to fight against one another, though. They would both just have to make it to the top of their block. Yamcha found that he was in block two, and he was glad about that. He didn’t want to go up against Goku in these practice rounds, but out in the actual ring where they would have more space to go all out with no time limit. He would work hard to reach the bigger stage, and he would take any knowledge he could get from his victories and utilize it. He needed to grow as a fighter if he wanted to be prepared for what the future held.

Goku was the first fighter in the ring, a fact that was met with much mocking from the adults in the room. They didn’t take the child seriously, but that didn’t bother Goku. He wasn’t there for them, anyway. He was there to win the whole tournament so that his friends could see how strong he had become. He was ready to take on anyone.

A large, burly man entered the ring, irritated by the child in front of him. “What is this, a joke fight?” he groaned. “I’ve fallen on my rump and squashed bugs bigger than you are.”

The Saiyan glared at the man, already getting into stance, his eyes conveying his confidence. “Is that so?” The announcer then told them they had one minute to fight. The giant made some more scathing remarks saying he would only need a second to crush the child. That was all the invitation Goku to spring into action. He charged the giant only to have sped right by him, surprised by his own speed. His opponent really seemed concern, though, and believed he had crushed him.

A smile appeared on the child’s face. His opponent didn’t seem like that bad a guy. “No, I’m okay,” he assured, tapping on the man’s leg slightly. Funnily enough, that tap had sent the giant down and out of the ring. Goku was confused as were many of the others in that block. The other competitors were in denial that Goku had actually won.

Krillin ran up to Goku, excited for his friend. He couldn’t believe how easy the match had been. “It’s lucky that he just fell out of the ring like that,” the bald child chimed.

But Goku knew it wasn’t luck. He had been pondering that from the moment he tapped him. “It wasn’t that. Krillin, I don't think we should use are full strength, at least not yet.”

“Hold on, why not?” Krillin questioned.

“It could be bad,” Goku warned. Krillin believed him. His friend was being unusually serious. Something else must have happened in his fight.

“Well what do we have here?” both Goku and Krillin heard. They turned to the source of a gravelly voice, and Krillin was shocked to see two monks from his old martial arts school. He definitely wasn’t thrilled to see them and paled. “Our old punching bag.”

“Um…hello,” Krillin managed to get out.

The taller of the two crossed his arms. “It’s been a long time since we saw you, Krillin, when you ran crying out of the Orin Temple.”

A nervous laugh escaped Krillin, and then the other monk noticed something. “But look, his clothes are so pretty.”

“Surely, you’re not trying to fight in the World Martial Arts Tournament.”

Krillin refused to meet their gaze. “Well, yeah, I was thinking about it,” he muttered quietly.

“How horrible, making all these real fighters waste their time on you.”

“Have you forgotten when we taught you, that runts are always runts?”

Goku was dazed, these two old men taunting his friend and saying mean things. He was completely shocked. He grew up with a really good brother and friend. The only one who ever said mean things was Nappa, and that’s just because he was old and grumpy. But Krillin was a nice guy, too, and one of Goku’s friends. He didn’t like these guys degrading him like this, especially when he could sense that Krillin was far stronger than them and yet he was acting so…meek.

“No, I remember,” Krillin replied, surprising Goku even more.

“Look, he’s ninety-three,” the taller one said. “Would you like to know who your opponent’s going to be?” Krillin stared at him feeling wary. “You’re looking at him.” Krillin’s reaction was less than refined.

The other one responded, “Just like old times, huh?”

“Just try not to be too hard on me,” Krillin’s opponent jeered before the two walked away, laughing.

Krillin looked terrified, but Goku just walked up in front of him to face him. “Why do you let them talk to you like that?” the innocent child asked his friend.

“‘Cause,” Krillin tried, “‘cause everything they say about me is right, Goku. They’ve known me longer than anyone. They know the truth.” Goku’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Maybe…maybe I should drop out.”

“No, you won’t,” Goku said, feeling determination for his friend sore. He smiled at him, eager to see him fight. “You’re going to give that guy all you’ve got.”

Krillin was stunned. “But I thought you said it would be bad if we used our full strength here.”

“We’ll take a time out from that rule,” Goku replied, still beaming at his rival, “because those guys need to know what you’re made of. So you show ‘em.” His friend stared at him with an uncertain, disbelieving glance before giving Goku a weak nod. He didn’t think Goku was right about this.

When Krillin was called up to fight, Goku was by his side, cheering him on. Even though Krillin was nervous, he entered the ring to face one of his old bullies. His opponent didn’t look worried at all, and it was unsettling. _“I bet you’ll be surprised at what you can do. Just give him a good tap.”_ Krillin remembered Goku’s words upon entering. His Saiyan friend was far too optimistic.

His enemy was confident, and Krillin was terrified, and they both started walking to the center of the ring. “You didn’t run away this time. Can’t say that’s a healthy move, but at least you’re less of a chicken,” the bully teased. Krillin could agree with that, but he was sweating a ton. He didn’t know if he could do this.

When the announcer told them to begin, Krillin was trembling, and the bully was trying to decide which of the child’s bones he should break first. Goku picked that up with his hearing and frowned, glowering at the man. _You can do this, Krillin,_ he though. _You show that big bully that you’re stronger._

Out of nowhere, Krillin saw his bully’s fist coming at him, and he jumped up on instinct to avoid it, phasing out of the older fighter’s view. The child landed in the ring, his eyes filled with determination, and he moved to kick his enemy as a counter. One hit sent the monk flying out of the ring, and even out of the building. Krillin had kicked the startled man through the wall making a hole. The monk whizzed right by some of the people, including Bulma who had gone to get herself a snack. Her brow furrowed before she paled. Could Goku have been the one fighting? She smiled. She guessed the kid really didn’t know how to control his own strength.

Of course, it hadn’t been Goku, but his friend who had just won his first fight. Goku couldn’t help but beam with pride. Krillin and his other bully just seemed stunned by the boy’s own strength. The kid was announced the winner and jumped out of the ring next to a very satisfied Goku. “You see? Delivering milk and moving dirt must be good training after all. Those guys won’t call you runt from now on.”

“Guess not,” Krillin marveled, looking down at his form. Could he really be that much stronger? A smile appeared on the former monk’s face. “Thanks, Goku.”

* * *

The rest of the preliminaries continued in the same fashion, Krillin and Goku blowing through their opponents. They beat the odds, shocking everyone by their strength. They cheered each other on every fight until they both easily made it to the end of their block. By the end of the day, Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha all advanced to the quarter final round of the World Martial Arts Tournament.

Once the preliminaries were over, Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha rejoined the group, and Roshi finally appeared. It was Bulma who suggested they go to lunch when she heard little Goku’s stomach growl from intense hunger. She offered to treat everyone in the group to celebrate the advancement of their friends in the tournament. They had earned a good meal.

As everyone ate their fill, Yamcha and Puar were astonished by how much the Saiyans were packing in and how quickly they were as well. No one else seemed phased by this wonder. It could only mean that this is how they always ate.

Goku was recounting all of the battles they faced, how Krillin had overcome the taunts of some mean men. Krillin was bashful over it, but he didn’t stop Goku’s chatter. “Then he kicked that guy right out of the whole building. It was awesome!”

Though Krillin was still blushing he shot back, “Well what about you? You barely touched a guy and he fell out of the ring.”

Nappa grunted a scoff and shook his head. “If that’s what we have to look forward to, this will be a boring ass tournament.”

“Language,” Bulma muttered quietly, knowing the Saiyan had heard her. Nappa shot the woman a glare.

Raditz spoke up, calling attention to himself. “Actually, I think it will be very interesting, especially if Kakarot and Krillin get matched up. I’m looking forward to actually seeing both your progress.”

Krillin was amazed that Goku’s brother seemed to express interest in him when the older Saiyan didn’t seem very thrilled with his presence at the table or his existence in general. Nappa seemed very scary, like one of his own bullies. The intimidating glint in his eyes every time he regarded the human child made him nervous. “R-Really?” Raditz nodded, and strangely enough his acceptance was enough to relax the nervous child.

Goku noticed his friend’s reaction and smiled. “Yeah, and don’t worry about Nappa says. He’s just grumpy.”

Nappa glowered at the Saiyan child, but he ended up huffing in frustration and crossing his arms when he heard both Vegeta and Raditz snicker. At least that dynamic hadn’t changed much.

Launch looked over to Raditz after he spoke, a soft smile gracing her features. She noticed that, as usual, the man had been deeply quiet, only somewhat reacting to his brother’s comments or any time in which someone spoke to him. During her days at the Kame House, her mind would wander when she was alone, thinking of the kind Saiyan and what he might be up to. She watched him and his Saiyan companions heartily devour their lunch, her eyes sparkling with slight affection. “So, Raditz,” she spoke up causing the Saiyan to pause in his eating. “How have you been since you left?”

Raditz was surprised by her attempts to engage him, as were his Saiyan companions. Nappa looked over to the youth, brow raised in question. Even Vegeta regarded him with a strange look. He ignored them both. “I’ve been fine,” he replied stoically before resuming to eat. He didn’t notice Launch smiling at him or Bulma’s baffled glance shifting between them. Oblivious to everything, Goku inserted himself into the conversation. He decided to tell of his and Krillin’s training, the routine that prepared them immensely for all these fights.

“I’ve been good too, big brother,” he chimed happily. “Krillin and I got a lot faster with the milk deliveries, and Master Roshi gave us more weight. It was difficult at first, but now we can do it really easily. We went for long runs on the beach too, and Krillin and I have been sparring a lot.”

“Feh, pathetic,” Nappa scoffed, insulting the training the youngest Saiyan had undergone. He didn’t care how much stronger they became over these weakling humans. Out of nowhere, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand as a tense aura hung over the group. The former general looked to the prince.

Vegeta was not pleased. “Nappa,” he said his guardian’s name in warning, reminding him to respect the humans around them. Nappa had already insulted them once moments ago, and where Kakarot’s interjection had been numerous, Vegeta was still irritated with the comments.

“Right, sorry,” the former general grunted. After that, they continued to eat in a deafening silence.

Roshi was the one to break it. “I like the new look you Saiyans have going on,” he said, gesturing to the weights.

Vegeta looked down at his vest, a glimmer of irritation in his stoic eyes. “It’s not enough,” he told the old man, “for us to feel like how we did on our home planet. The gravity there was ten times that of Earth. These vests may as well be paper.”

Yamcha was surprised that Vegeta was even talking about his home. He was sure it was probably a sore point. He remembered hearing the story just by being in the room among Bulma and the other Saiyans that the planet had been destroyed. They had been trying to wish their world and their people back with the Dragon Balls, and it hadn’t been possible. The former bandit couldn’t stop his curiosity or himself from chancing to ask, “What was your planet like?”

The flame-haired prince looked to the Earthling expressionlessly, stating, “Are you sure you want to know?”

The way Vegeta worded his question and the dark intensity of his voice took Yamcha aback, and for a moment he wondered just exactly what Vegeta had asked. Did he want to know? Should he want to know? He already learned that the universe out there was cruel and hostile. Maybe it would be better if he didn’t. At the same time, he had promised his allegiance to help however he could. A determination filled him. He _did_ want to know those he planned to help. Yamcha swallowed and nodded to the prince, ready to learn about a world he did not know or understand.

Nappa seemed doubtful, but he had to admire the human’s guts. Now, he was interested, and he watched Yamcha intently to see if he could stomach a Saiyan history lesson. “The Saiyans were not originally from Planet Vegeta,” Vegeta stated. “We were a warrior race of the planet, Sadala. There are many different rumors as to why we left the planet ranging from destruction of the planet to the loss of resources. The Saiyans then went to Planet Plant, home of the Tuffles, and conquered it.”

“Conquered it?” Yamcha repeated. “What happened to the Tuffles?”

“Heh,” Nappa chuckled. “The Tuffles? They were wiped out. I’m sure you remember Kakarot’s transformation.”

Little Goku paled, but he said nothing, his brow furrowing as he stopped eating. Bulma noticed and placed a comforting hand on the boy’s shoulder. He smiled up at the blue-haired teenager, thankful for her warmth and the distraction from his thoughts of guilt. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Nappa. The former general wasn’t wrong, but however powerful, the transformation had become taboo around the youngest Saiyan among them. Yamcha, Launch, and Krillin all looked horrified, whereas Roshi was hardly surprised given what he already knew about this alien race.

“T-They were…killed?” Krillin chanced to ask. “But…why?”

“The Saiyans weren’t the nicest people around,” Raditz replied sincerely. “Honestly, we made a name for ourselves due to the way we conquered planets and did away with the inhabitants. It caught the attention of others like us, and if I’m being honest…worse than us.”

“Frieza?” Krillin asked, shocking the other Saiyans when he said the tyrant’s name. Three pairs of perplexed eyes were boring into is, and Krillin sank down in his seat. “Uh um,” he stammered. “Goku told me.”

Raditz looked over to his younger brother and smirked. It seemed like the young boy had gotten over Krillin’s cheap victory from always back. They had become healthy rivals, friends, and it pleased him to know that Kakarot had a confidant. “Yeah, him,” Nappa stated darkly. “We had a very strong military. I know, I trained them. Saiyans were broken up into classes based on power levels, third, second, and first class, and then a special group of elites which is where Vegeta and I fell. Teams would be sent to purge certain planets based on their levels, small to large in size depending on the effectiveness of the team’s combat, and our young-” Both Vegeta and Raditz flashed Nappa warning glares. The bald man just huffed in frustration. “They were trained in the art of battle as well.”

“That doesn’t sound very nice,” Launch stated, a frown marring her usually soft features.

Raditz sighed. “We weren’t very nice,” he agreed. “And that’s why Frieza came to us and made a deal. Technology and security in exchange for the Saiyans to conquer planets in his name. He presented it as the opportunity for unending battle. To a warrior race, it sounded pretty damn good.”

“Why conquer for someone else?” Yamcha inquired, forcing himself to mentally sidestep the part where innocent people were murdered by these guys. He couldn’t help the voice in the back of his head questioning how many. That, he didn’t think he wanted to know at all.

“Because, despite the technology acquired from the Tuffles,” Nappa explained, “we still weren’t as advanced as we needed to be for fast and distant space travel. The Planet Trade Organization was far more advanced technology-wise. They also had access to regeneration tanks which could heal fatal wounds significantly quicker. Of course, they took the scouter design of the Tuffles to be able to read power levels.”

“It wasn’t an even trade as we came to learn,” Vegeta continued. “Frieza had no respect for the Saiyans, and he had no problem throwing his power around. He had basically forced us into submission. After a while, his true colors and beliefs showed. We were nothing but weakling monkeys to him. He walked around the palace like he owned us. Whenever anyone tried to defy him, we were threatened. We knew that he could back up his threats.”

“He was afraid of us,” Raditz took over after Vegeta’s eyes glazed over, probably going over his session with Frieza the previous night. “The Saiyan race, I mean.”

“Why is that?” Roshi inquired, curious and, truthfully, a bit concerned. There had to be a reason the Saiyans were feared by a being who was supposedly worse than them.

“Saiyans have the ability to get stronger each time they sustain a fatal injury,” Vegeta remarked. “In one Saiyan, it’s not a problem, but if the whole race were to get stronger and go up against Frieza, he would lose. We aren’t ones to surrender even when knocked down.”

“That’s all interesting and all,” Goku grumbled before flashing his brother and accusatory look, “but you promised you’d tell me about mom and dad one day. You said Frieza didn’t like them.”

“Frieza was concerned about our father’s strength,” Raditz explained. “He didn’t give two shits about our mother. Father was born a third-class but was quickly catching up to the elites. He could take on missions Frieza’s elite soldiers wouldn’t touch. He was the perfect example of the ability Vegeta just spoke of. A couple of near-death experiences and he was strong enough to take out the Kanassans.”

“The Kanassans?” Krillin questioned.

Raditz nodded. “A race of psychics who could see the future. Frieza feared their ability as well. They were incredibly strong. Our father nearly died going up against them, but he and his team finished them off, and the last Kanassan cursed him with their own ability. That is how our father came to have visions.”

The topic of visions was normally off-limits around Vegeta. He kept his ability secret. Unlike Bardock, he was born with the curse. Bulma looked to her boyfriend, empathizing with him. To this day, she, Raditz, and Nappa were the only ones who knew about his burdensome gift. Nappa spoke up, cutting through Bulma’s thoughts. “Bardock was cutthroat and brutal, but after being given that ability, he quit purging altogether and became an advisor and friend to the king. He was the one who went to the king and warned him of what Frieza was to do. Vegeta’s mother arranged for the three of us to get off the planet, the king having dismissed Bardock’s words as if they were nothing.”

“If he knew Bardock had visions, then why…?” Yamcha questioned.

“Denial,” Nappa admitted. “To be honest, I think we all were. Can’t really deny much now.”

It grew intense and quiet, but Little Goku spoke up again, engaging his quiet brother. “Yeah, but what were they like, mom and dad? Do you miss them?”

Raditz nodded. “Yeah, kid. I do. They may not have been perfect, but they were good people deep down. Mom, she had been a purger too, but she didn’t like the lifestyle. She ended up becoming a butcher, working with meat. As Nappa said, dad was unbelievably strong for a third-class. He was dedicated, too. I miss training with him, I miss mom’s cooking, and I miss their guidance.”

Launch watched Raditz carefully as he spoke and could see the changes in his emotions. He was trying to play it off, but the woman could tell he truly cared for his parents, and he was most likely still grieving.

“So, Frieza…” Yamcha warily called out, garnering everyone’s attention, especially the prince’s. “Do you think he knows where you are? Would he be able to find you?”

“No,” Vegeta said a bit too abruptly. He regained his composure and spoke calmly despite his racing heart. The only explanation he gave was, “I know that Frieza has no idea where I am.”

“How do you know?” Krillin pondered.

Vegeta shivered slightly over the memories of his recent torture, the pain he felt. His eyes met the child’s. “You just have to trust me.”

Bulma’s eyes never left Vegeta’s form as they filled with concern. She wanted to reach out and reassure him that it would all be okay, but she didn’t know that for sure. For now, they were safe, or as safe as could be. She really wished that there was more she could do to alleviate Vegeta’s suffering.

And, just like that, the announcer then called for everyone to go to the ring for the first round of the tournament. The World Martial Arts Tournament was about to begin. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

It was time for the second round of the tournament, and Goku and Krillin couldn’t contain their excitement. After lunch, they had gone off on their own. Bulma had been worried about letting two children wander around a crowded place alone, but she was assured by Raditz and Vegeta that they would be fine. Nappa just scoffed at her.

Roshi had disappeared again as well, and that took the Saiyans by surprised. They figured this trainer would want to gage the boys’ progress. They did sense him in the stadium, but he was nowhere near the stands. Shortly after, the contestants were called to the arena. Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha left the group to compete, and the Saiyans, Bulma, Launch, and Puar found their seats. Thanks to Bulma, they were actually pretty close to the fighting stage.

In the back, all of the contestants had to draw numbers to see who would be fighting who in the quarterfinal matches. Krillin was placed in the first fight against Bacterian, a large, smelly fighter, whose stench was enough to paralyze any of his opponents. Yamcha was set to fight in the second match against a familiar-looking fighter, Jackie Chun. The third fight pitted a man named Nam against a woman named Ranfan. Little Goku was to fight in the last match of the round against a large dragon, Giran. The child was hardly phased by the size of his opponent.

There was a lively energy in the crowd, and Vegeta could gather that the humans there were really looking forward to that battles that would take place. The prince couldn’t help but ponder the scope of the human’s knowledge of marital arts. Bulma had told him that there were many who knew little to nothing about a “sport.” Some of those types of people were in the crowd. They just wanted to see a battle, needing the intensity of a fight without being able to fight themselves. There were some who knew a limited amount of techniques. Vegeta smirked. He was sure Kakarot would be surprising every one of the onlookers.

A blonde announcer came out to greet the crowd. “Now, ladies and gentlemen,” he called into his microphone to be heard over the mass of people. “Are you ready? That’s right, people. It’s time for the twenty-first World Martial Arts Tournament!” There were cheers to be heard from all around, yet the Saiyans were silent. They weren’t there to have a good time, not really. They were there to determine the strength of their youngest member to make sure this training he was undertaking was helping him reach his full potential.

“Okay,” the announcer continued. “Here are the big matchups for the first round. First match, Bacterian versus Krillin. Second match, Jackie Chun versus Yamcha.”

Vegeta, Raditz, and Nappa all had to do a double take, noticing that the fighter they announced as Jackie Chun had the ki and body form of the Turtle Hermit himself. They exchanged curious glances before smirking. So, it seemed the teacher really did want to see his students’ improvement. In fact, he wanted to experience it firsthand. _The Saiyan way._

“Fight three, Ranfan versus Nam, and match four, Gakuh…no, Goku versus Giran.”

“Feh,” Nappa scoffed, crossing his arms. “Guy can’t even say the kid’s name.”

“Whatever,” Vegeta grunted in response. He looked to the ring in curiosity. “So we get to see Kakarot’s rival fight first. Interesting.”

“Yeah, the kid is sneaky,” Raditz stated. “He gave Kakarot a run for his money in a few of their exercises. Clearly, the kid got over it and they became friends.”

“Had to be if he told him about Frieza,” Nappa replied. He looked to Bulma who was looking to the ring in worry as Little Krillin walked out to face a huge giant. “What’s eating you?”

“Nothing,” Bulma lied, her voice growing defensive. “Just…will the kids be okay against all these people with years of experience.”

“If Kakarot can withstand us,” Vegeta replied, his voice soft and convincing as he regarded her, “he can withstand anything. I’m sure his rival, who has fought him on a regular basis, will be fine as well.”

“The first match between Bacterian and Krillin will begin momentarily.” The attention was on the tournament announcer once again. “So don’t go to the lemonade stand. Before we get things fired up, let me remind everyone that this year’s winner will receive a prize of five hundred thousand zeni.” And then a tournament director was introduced, a canine by the looks of it, who simply offered a bark as words of wisdom. “Isn’t that profound?” the announcer declared loudly.

Many of the crowd fell over, shocked. Raditz leaned over to whisper in Vegeta’s ear. “He’s not serious, is he?” A shrug was the warrior’s answer. Sometimes, these Earthlings were just bizarre.

“Would the contestants please come down?”

“Finally,” Nappa huffed.

Launch chuckled and said to Bulma, “Oh, I’m so excited to see the boys fight. They’ve been working so hard.”

Bulma grinned at the other woman. “I’m sure. Thank you for looking out for them.” Launch’s expression matched Bulma’s, and then their gazes shifted to the ring just in time to see Krillin and Bacterian making their way to the center.

Inside the ring, Krillin had been encouraged by Goku to “just keep punching.” The little Saiyan had all the faith in Krillin that Krillin didn’t have in himself. Goku was just so energetic. How could he be so excited and unafraid of all of the fighters there? Krillin wished he had his rival’s confidence.

The announcer gave the specks of the fighter, noting that Bacterian had a particularly distinctive order. Being so close to the ring with an intensified sense of smell, the Saiyans grimaced. Of course, they had smelled worse in their times of battle, but it had been a long time and it was hardly bearable. “I hope that kid kicks that piece of trash’s ass,” Nappa grumbled into the hand covering his nose. He looked to the two women who were holding their noses. “Disgusting.”

“At least we can agree on that,” Raditz growled, doing the same thing.

Vegeta just ignored the foul aroma, focusing solely on Krillin. He needed to see what the child could do. He didn’t care about his discomfort at the moment. “Let’s get those punches flying!” the announcer cried. The battle was about to begin.

Almost immediately, Krillin was paralyzed by Bacterian’s stench, and the large warrior beckoned Krillin to come closer. Every step he took forward, Krillin to a step back, covering his face. When Bacterian cast a punch in the spot where Krillin stood, Krillin jumped into the air, spinning in the air to get away from the fighter. _He’s pretty fast,_ Vegeta determined. _But will that be good enough?_

Krillin landed far behind Bacterian, falling back into a defensive stance. Bacterian took notice of Krillin’s trickery and then turned to face him again. “I’ve got some trickies too,” the giant declared. He took a deep breath and breathed in Krillin’s face. Krillin held his, struggling in hopes to avoid the horrid smell. Bacterian had other repulsive techniques, all using his terrible body odor.

“Ugh, gross!” Bulma exclaimed, averting her eyes. “What a pig!”

“No kidding,” Raditz agreed, casting a glance over to Vegeta. The prince’s gaze never left the fighters, his arms crossed and eyes calculating. _Wonder what he’s thinking of this travesty…_

Krillin fell back practically incapacitated, the announcer reporting the events, now wearing a gas mask, and another man began the count. The crowd, though, was in a surprising uproar, cheering the young warrior on. As if responding, Krillin got to his feet, a bit shaky, but still able to fight. Bacterian latched onto the kid, Krillin starting to get nervous. He started strangling the life out of the boy, Vegeta’s eyes widening. That was such a despicable move. He could remember some of his recent dreams, Frieza strangling him with his powerful tail in the dreamscape. He tensed, his finger tapping his shoulder. Unfortunately, he was in the audience and couldn't stop this dreadful act. He could only continue to watch on and see what the boy could do. After all, killing an opponent was against the rules here. The child would be fine.

“Quick, Krillin!” Goku called. “Pin his arms away from you!”

Krillin heard his friend, and he took control of the situation. He shifted his body, kicking the large hands away from him, and he propelled himself away from his opponent. The anxiety Vegeta was feeling left him, and he was actually impressed with Kakarot’s rival. His finger stopped twitching, and he taught muscles relaxed. Nappa was the only one to notice the slight changes in Vegeta’s countenance.

Bacterian fell to the ground, the crowd in an uproar. Krillin distanced himself, his hands in front of him as he entered his fighting stance once again. The sickening goliath returned to his feet, eager to pay the hurt Krillin gave him back tenfold. Krillin once again backed away, unable to swallow his nerves. He stopped when he was at the edge of the ring’s corner. There was nowhere else to go. He was dangerously close to a ring out. Krillin tried to make a run for it, sneak underneath the behemoth, but Bacterian saw his move and chose to sit on the child, crushing him. He started jumping up and down on the boy, and given their sizes Krillin would not be left completely undamaged.

“This fight is strangely barbaric,” Raditz muttered, his voice full of distaste. “This other competitor is no warrior.”

“Heh, kid has a lot to learn,” Nappa mocked. “I knew this tournament was going to be boring.”

Vegeta disregarded the comments, keeping his eye on Krillin. He had the feeling it wasn’t over yet. He could see Kakarot on the wall, watching his friend’s fight with angered yet calculating eyes. _What will you do, Kakarot? What do you see?_

Krillin got tired of being a punching bag and turned over, catching Bacterian by his rear to protect himself. He still had fight inside of him. He wanted to reach his match with Goku. He would not give up.

But Bacterian was unfazed and let an obnoxious fart out to wither Krillin’s resolve, then choosing to stomp on the downed fighter. Goku was starting to get upset, his friend being hurt by a big bully whose only technique was smell. It looked like he would lose. This wasn’t fair. Krillin had been fighting his hardest. There had to be a way out. If only their noses weren’t so sensitive. _Wait…_

Goku’s eyes widened.

“Come on, it’s not over yet!” he coached. “Krillin, hey, focus your mind and you won’t be able to smell him. Just think about it. You don’t have a nose, remember?”

Krillin heard his friend and his eyes widened. “Hey, he’s right!” he acknowledged. He really was still in this!

The child leapt to his feet, ready to continue. “Thanks for the tip, Goku,” he returned. He wouldn’t let his rival down, not now. Bacterian was about to use another noxious, underhanded attack, but Krillin just kicked him down. He then decided to give Bacterian a piece of his own medicine, running up and letting out his own flatulence in his nose, a scent strong enough to knock the unhygienic fighter. Krillin was declared the winner, moving onto the semifinals. Goku jumped down from the wall, racing to his friend and holding his arm up in victory. He was so proud of his best friend.

“Ugh, thank goodness that’s over,” Bulma huffed, uncovering her nose after Bacterian was removed from the ring and odor sprays were being used all over the ring. “I was seriously about to lose my lunch.”

“That was far from pleasant,” Raditz stated, his eyes wandering to the two kids. He couldn’t help but grin. “But still…it’s kind of nice seeing Kakarot befriend someone his own age. His reactions to the fight, he’s really proud of that kid.”

“He should be,” Vegeta dictated, surprising Raditz and Nappa. “He was able to overcome a disturbing fighter and get out of a chokehold without panicking, and I’m sure he’s never had to deal with such a lowly move like that before. The other fighter, he was a coward.”

Raditz and Nappa exchanged curious glances, settling on agreeing with their prince, but Bulma saw something shift in Vegeta’s eyes as he spoke. His attention was back on the ring, though he wasn’t staring at anything in particular. Bulma couldn’t help but question what was on her boyfriend’s mind.

* * *

Shortly before the second match, Goku and Krillin noticed that Roshi wasn’t in the stand, and so they went to look for him. Goku told Krillin he could smell Roshi, the human surprised by Goku’s bloodhound-like nose. They searched and searched, though, and couldn’t spot where he was. While they wandered around, the second match was announced and Yamcha was ready to face Jackie Chun.

In the stands, Nappa gave the elderly fighter a once over. “So, what are you thinking, prince?”

Bulma looked to Vegeta, also curious. “I think it’s time to see what our possible allies have to offer.”

 _I wonder what he means by that,_ the heiress thought, sitting back. Sure, she knew Yamcha had offered help against that demon, Frieza, but she had no idea why the Saiyans were looking to the stranger, Jackie Chun, with such intensity.

The announcer introduced the two fighters, compelling them to go to their corners and get ready to fight. Yamcha eyed Jackie Chun suspiciously. He had never heard of a fighter by that name, but the fact that he made it to the main tournament meant that he would not be a pushover opponent. _This is a chance to get stronger,_ Yamcha told himself. He needed to get stronger. He would also be able to show his strength. He was ready.

“Go!”

Yamcha got into his stance and observed that his opponent had not put up his guard. He couldn’t even sense his fighting energy. It was either because the man was foolish or extremely confident. It was then Yamcha remembered seeing one of his fights in the preliminaries, but he couldn’t tell his technique. He decided to make a move. That would be the only way he could see.

He attempted to punch and kick his opponent, but Jackie Chun managed to dodge each blow. During one of the strikes, Jackie Chun decided to give a lesson, quickly moving away from Yamcha’s fist. “Your fighting moves are big and fun to look at, but I’m afraid most of them are just a waste of energy.”

The claim angered Yamcha slightly. “I’ll show you!” he called out, putting more energy into his attack.

“That’s not a good idea,” Raditz observed, earning Bulma’s, Launch’s, and Vegeta’s attention. “The old man is right. He’s just wasting energy. He needs to learn better control.”

“He’s got spirit at least,” Nappa replied, “for a human, that is.”

Vegeta released a frustrated sigh. “I dare you to utter that word one more time…” He then turned his attention back to the fight, seeing that the desert bandit was rapidly attacking the disguised turtle hermit, the master dodging each strike. The Saiyan could practically see the energy radiating off of Yamcha’s fingertips, his eyes narrowing. It was possible that the Earthling really could become a decent fighter. It wasn’t easy to get access to one’s energy unless a species was born for battle. It was clear that he had no proper training. If he did, though, he _could_ become a positive asset. _I guess he wasn’t all talk after all._

Goku was shocked, witnessing the fight himself. He called Krillin over to see how the old man was dodging every punch like it was nothing. Jackie Chun was quick and nimble on his feet, and Yamcha felt like the man was trying to make a mockery out of him. He was about to use his own signature move, his Wolf Fang Fist, but every hit completely missed its target. Still, had his opponent not be faster and more precise, the teenager could have been victorious. There was a ton of power hidden behind his strikes.

Jackie Chun managed to dodge Yamcha’s attack, launching himself into the air, pushing off the roof of the awning above the ring. His teenaged opponent was completely stunned. He then flipped over the other fighter so that he was behind. Yamcha cried out. How was this geezer doing this?

“Allow me to present you with this refreshing, winter breeze.”

With that, Jackie Chun produced a large, powerful gust of wind, and Yamcha was knocked out of the ring by his energy.

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that,” Bulma pondered, looking over to her boyfriend who was eyeing her strangely. “I thought, for sure, that Yamcha guy had this. It’s unheard of for an old man to move like that.”

“Never judge a book by its cover,” Vegeta instructed. “Some of the most powerful fighters out there are nothing more than idiotic, flamboyant, pretty boys.”

“You’re kidding,” Bulma returned.

“Unfortunately, he’s not,” Raditz muttered under his breath. “But the kid should be proud of himself. He may not have gotten a hit, but when up against a real master with little to no training it’s no surprise. His technique is shoddy, but there’s a lot of untapped power inside of him.”

Vegeta still felt wary about Yamcha on account of his visions, but he had not seen another one where he was with Bulma, at least not as a lover. He had seen glimpses through the battle. Most likely he’d be friends with the woman and, surprisingly, with him. The prince was startled by the notion. He was not really one for making friends, mainly due to his desire to keep most at a distance. Still, the feelings the visions evoked were not unpleasant. His expression softened to a neutral gaze. Perhaps there was more to Yamcha than met the eye. Only time would tell.

* * *

Moments later, the third battle occurred. The announcer knew nothing of the fighters as they were both new to the syndicate. It was already a strange battle when it started with the woman, Ranfan, winking at her opponent, openly flirting with him before a fight. It caught the fighter, Nam, off-guard, and she started off with a fairly rough kick.

Nappa chortled loudly. “Now _this_ is a battle I could get on board with,” he remarked. “Reminds me of my own disagreements with my mate.”

“Yeah, _none_ of us want to hear about that,” Raditz teased, narrowly avoiding Nappa’s fist. Vegeta crossed his arms, withdrawing inside himself and closing his eyes, at least attempting to control his anger at being in the middle of such childish antics between his two elders.

Launch looked at the group, perplexed. “What do they mean by mate?” she asked Bulma.

The blue-haired teenager shrugged, knowing more than she let on. “I think it means ‘wife’ to them,” she explained.

“He’s married?” Launch responded in surprise before looking over to the two bickering Saiyans. Well, it seemed Vegeta was right about not judging books by covers, even really abrasive books.

It was then that Bulma made a realization she hadn’t before. She knew quite a bit about the planet from which they came, how it was destroyed. Vegeta’s family was gone, and Raditz had mentioned his parents. Nappa never mentioned _anyone_ before except other Saiyans he knew, like the king and Bardock. She never considered that he might have had a family too.

The elder Saiyan must have sensed her watching because his coal eyes met hers. “What?” he snapped harshly, earning a one-eyed glare from Vegeta.

“Nothing,” Bulma replied before her attention shifted back to the fight. Her eyes narrowed into slits when the woman screamed and started crying when Nam barely touched her. A sneeze beside her stole her attention, and she was completely shocked when a blonde-haired woman was snarling at the woman to get off her ass and fight. And she was sitting right where Launch was.

“What are you looking at?” the woman questioned.

“Uh, um,” Bulma stammered. “Where did Launch go?”

“What are you talkin’ about? I’m right here! Who the hell are you?”

Nappa and Vegeta were both eyeing the woman, wary over what she might do, but they relaxed when Raditz started laughing, thoroughly entertained. “Bulma, this _is_ Launch. Launch, Bulma, a friend of mine.”

The blonde version of Launch met Raditz’s eyes. They narrowed. “Hey, I remember you! You tried to run away and then shot my bullet back at me with your thumb!”

“Wasn’t running,” Raditz replied, smirking at her. “Next time, don’t shoot. Bullets don’t work against Saiyans.”

“What the f-?”

“Lady, shut up, we’re trying to watch a fight!” a man in the crowd shouted.

“Oh, he did it now,” Raditz remarked, grinning sadistically as the woman beside them started flipping out. Right as she was about to take out her gun, a wind passed by, and she sneezed again, her hair returned to dark blue.

“Oh, when did I get up?” Launch asked, looking to Bulma. She blushed and then sat down. “Did I black out again?”

Nappa looked to the third-class Saiyan asking, “Okay, what the hell just happened?”

“That’s just Launch,” Raditz stated, the contented grin never leaving his face. Vegeta noticed, and his expression matched Raditz’s. It seemed even Raditz could find his match on this backwater world. Now, it was Nappa’s turn.

It turned out Ranfan’s crying was only an act. She took advantage of Nam’s hesitation, attacking him. After her first hit, Nam was able to easily defend himself, and that brought the match to the next level. A disturbing level. Ranfan decided to use her feminine charms and body to incapacitate her opponent. Bulma expressed her disgust, and then she realized that even her Saiyan companions were seeing this fight. She nervously looked to Vegeta and was surprised to see that not only had Vegeta averted his eyes, but they were closed. Even Nappa and Raditz looked completely uncomfortable, their eyes no longer on the fighters.

All three Saiyans were thinking the same thing. _Disgraceful._ This wasn’t a fight, and the woman was just using dirty tricks for an easy victory.

Meanwhile, back in the stadium, Yamcha made a discovery when Jackie Chun was laughing and whooping wildly. Yamcha recognized the laughter, and he had determined that Jackie Chun was, in fact, Master Roshi. He was stunned, but it was sobering. Now his defeat made sense. He had a lot to learn against a true martial artist. Of course, seeing him like this didn’t really help his image.

Thankfully, the battle ended rather quickly as Nam closed his eyes and beat the shameless woman. He knocked her out with a chop to the back of her neck. There was no coming back for her.

* * *

Clouds began to roll overhead, but no one in the stadium was going anywhere. The last match to determine the last semi-finalist was up, and Little Goku was ready for his fight against Giran. The announcer called everyone to the ready, announcing the two competitors.

Bulma’s attention was on the ring. Honestly, where she knew Goku could handle himself, she didn’t know anything about his opponent. “Giran…I wonder who that is.”

“Inconsequential,” Vegeta stated, crossing his arms and nearly reclining. “Either way, Kakarot will win.”

The teenager beside him smiled at that before her gaze returned to the ring. The seriousness returned. She shared Vegeta’s optimism, especially after seeing the Saiyans in action on more than one occasion. Still, after seeing some of the fights, she realized that some of the so-called martial artists were using dirty tricks to win. Goku…he wasn’t like that, and he was naïve. She shook her head. She refused to let her mind linger on that thought too long. Even though he was just a kid, he was a strong kid, and he wouldn’t be strong-armed.

A giant dinosaur made his way into the ring followed by Goku who ran in laughing. “Hi, everyone,” he greeted the audience. “My name’s Goku.”

Nappa snorted and shook his head. “Kid is too damn polite. This is a fight, not a show.”

“Eh, let him have his moment,” Raditz countered, grinning at his brother. “He’s excited.”

“Oh, he looks so adorable in his little gi,” Launch chimed happily.

Bulma couldn’t help but agree, calling out to the child. “Yeah, hey, we know your name you big ham,” she teased. Goku looked over to her and flashed her a bright smile.

“Fighters ready?” the announcer questioned. Immediately, Goku fell into his fighting stance, and the dragon-like creature across from him merely grunted and stood his ground. There was no doubt he was a large monster, but it didn’t seem to bother Goku as he stared his opponent down, not even an inkling of fear in his eyes. “Begin!”

And as soon as the announcer declared this, a drop of rain fell from the sky, a strike of lightning hit and thunder roared, and then a torrential downpour followed suit causing many in the audience to panic. The Saiyans looked around and shook their heads. What was the big deal?

Goku, like the other Saiyans, was unmoved by the rain. He was studying his opponent, ready to make his move. The announcer called out that the match was still in progress. It had not been postponed…yet. _Good,_ Goku thought. He was ready to show what he was made of. Moments later, though, the announcer redrew his statement. “The match _has_ been postponed and will resume when there is a break in the weather.”

“Oh what a load of crap,” Nappa hissed. “This Earthlings are too spoiled. Bad weather makes no difference.”

Vegeta could not help but agree, and he could see their young Saiyan comrade reacting similarly. He had not fallen out of stance. He had _not_ dismissed this fight just because of the ruling. His Saiyan blood was calling out to him to defeat his opponent. “Apparently, the fighters didn’t hear the announcement over the storm,” the announcer stated. He cleared his throat. “Goku? Giran? Your match has been postponed until a later time.” Vegeta smirked. Goku still hadn’t taken his eyes off of Giran, and likewise the monster’s gaze remained on the child.

Finally, though, the tournament committee members had to enter the ring, stealing the attention of the fighters to dismiss them. Goku looked a bit perplexed having not heard the announcer at all. He looked a bit disappointed, but he did leave the ring, but not before shooting Giran a parting glare. The Saiyans couldn’t help but wonder kind of intensity this fight would hold.

* * *

While everyone was waiting for the weather to clear up, they were relaxing in the bar, eating. Many conversations between people were taking place while one of the workers played upbeat melodies on the piano. All in all, it was a relaxing bout between the many fights, a bit of a reprieve for the competitors.

“Well, I’m glad it started raining,” Yamcha announced. “I’ve got a bad feeling about that Giran guy, Goku. I don’t think he deals from a straight deck. I’d keep my eye on him.”

Goku was drinking a cup of hot tea and looked to Yamcha. “You mean he cheats?”

“How would you know something like that?” Raditz asked suspiciously. Honestly, most of the fighters he saw today did in one form or another. There were certainly few clean fights in this tournament already, but what had Yamcha so convinced Giran would play dirty against his younger brother?

Yamcha nodded. “That’s what I heard some guys saying during the elimination round. Just don’t let your guard down. I’d expect the unexpected if I were you. You’re real strong, but it’s not always just the strongest one who wins.”

“The kid already knows that,” Nappa grunted. “He’d be a fool to think that every fight is a fair fight. Besides, you’re hardly the one to be giving advice like that after _losing_ your fight.”

“It’s because of that loss that I’m warning him,” Yamcha stated. “If there was anything I learned in fighting that Jackie Chun it’s that I still have a long way to go as far as technique is concerned. At least fighting him, though, he won through skill and experience, not by cheating.”

“It’s good that you can acknowledge this,” Vegeta stated, finally speaking directly to Yamcha. The Earthling seemed to be surprised that he was even addressing him. “You aren’t that far behind in technique. You need to learn proper ki control to avoid wasting energy. That will come with time and training.”

“You think so?” Yamcha replied, eyes wide. Vegeta nodded and then looked away, avoiding eye contact. The former bandit grinned at the prince. “Then I’ll start working on that right away after the tournament.”

At that moment, Krillin was looking around. “Hey, you know what I just realized? Master Roshi’s not here. Where the heck did he run off to?”

The others, except for the Saiyans, looked around. Bulma’s eyes landed on Jackie Chun. “For a second, I thought that was him there.”

The Saiyans all exchanged knowing glances, and Vegeta was strangely surprised by Bulma’s perception. Of course, she couldn’t read ki, and that meant she had no idea that it was definitely Roshi’s ki signature.

Yamcha looked back also to see his former opponent. “There is a resemblance, isn’t there?” The gears clicked in Yamcha’s head. _No, it’s more than that. It’s him, alright. Jackie Chun and Master Roshi are one in the same. I know it._ Raditz observed Yamcha. It seemed, as the Earthling’s eyes narrowed, that he had drawn the right conclusion.

Loud footsteps could be heard as Giran, Goku’s opponent, finally made his way to the bar. “Yikes, it’s him,” Krillin called out.

“Show some pride, boy,” Nappa scolded. “He isn’t even your opponent.”

Giran went straight to the bar demanding milk. Once poured, he overheard some whelps taunting him, making fun of his desire for milk. They were Krillin’s old bullies again, monks from his old temple. A fourth monk from the group ran in and tripped over Giran’s tail. He called the dragon names, ordering to watch his tail.

“Oh no,” Krillin muttered, unable to take his eyes off of the troublemakers. They were digging their own graves laying into Giran like that. Of course, it didn’t end there. They were continuing to harass and ridicule the combatant, questioning his competency as a fighter and claiming he had gotten all of the easy guys. “This doesn’t look good.”

“Krillin, aren’t those some of the guys you used to train with?”

The former monk nodded. “Uh-huh…”

“Hm,” Goku hummed when his question was answered.

“It’s a shame,” one of the monks jeered, “that the tournament has come down to two kids, a guy old enough to be their grandfather, a peasant, and a monster who likes milk.”

“Yeah, this championship’s a sham. I could beat them…easy.”

Nappa chuckled. “Well, this should be entertaining.”

Apparently, Giran wasn’t one to look past taunts, and he took his large tail to knock the gabby monks where they stood. All four of them were launched into the air before falling to the ground, though one managed to land on his feet. “Alright, you big goon! You’re asking for it!” one of the monks challenged.

“Watch that big tail, guys,” another warned. “It’s lightning fast.”

“They thought _that_ was fast?” Raditz commentated, chuckling. “They haven’t seen anything.”

“There’s only one tail and four of us. I like those odds.”

The monk went to attack, sending a chop Giran’s way, one that was powerful enough to cut the vase on the counter. Giran, though, was unfazed, but at least he was willing to give one compliment. “Hey, that’s pretty good. You know, I kind of like you. I think I’m going to kill you last.”

“What?” the young man replied, his voice filled with disbelief, as if he couldn’t understand the threat being made.

“You, bartender,” Giran called out. “Fill me up. Pour the milk. NOW!”

The bartender did his job, and in the time it was taking him to pour the milk, Giran turned, hitting all the monks hard using his jacket as a smokescreen to cover his fists. Krillin was horrified by the display, noting how strong he was. But Goku, Goku was smiling. “I know,” he said happily. “And I get to fight him.”

Bulma sweat-dropped and Launch looked to her, whispering behind her hand. “Sometimes I worry about him.”

Before Bulma could respond, Raditz chuckled and flashed the woman a devilish smile. “Don’t. That’s just the Saiyan spirit at work.”

“At least that didn’t get knocked out of him,” Nappa stated before downing a beer. He scoffed at the empty glass. “Feh, pathetically weak.”

 _Probably better for us, anyway,_ Vegeta mentally noted. The last thing they needed was a drunken Nappa around. Out of nowhere, Vegeta froze, his eyes turning white and pupils dilating as the force of his visions took over, barely even registering Yamcha yelling at the dragon fighter as he continued to brutalize the monks. At first, he could hardly make out an image, but then he saw Frieza standing in front of him, in the flesh, but around him the surroundings were not that of Earth. The sadistic bastard looked pleased with himself, and Vegeta felt like he was quivering.

 _“For the last time, king,”_ Frieza spoke. His voice sickened Vegeta the most, _“I know you were once allied with those pesky monkeys. Tell me…”_ The pleasantness left the tyrant as he spoke. _“Any idea where the king would send the boy?”_

 _“I-I don’t know!”_ Vegeta heard from his side of the exchange. It was as if he were the king standing in front of Frieza. _“We haven’t spoken to the Saiyans since years before the planet was destroyed. We assumed even the prince had died in the asteroid storm.”_ Frieza actually started cackling. _“W-What?”_

 _“An asteroid storm, hm?”_ Frieza repeated. _“King, that was no asteroid storm.”_ All of a sudden, the “king” was kicked back, the wind being knocked from him as the purple throne shattered into pieces. _“_ I _was the one who destroyed Planet Vegeta.”_

 _“Wh…”_ The king, whoever he was, couldn’t believe Frieza did this. Vegeta could hardly believe that he was seeing what the Saiyans’ former ally was seeing. It was bad enough Vegeta was seeing Frieza in his mindscape. Now, he was haunting his visions again?

Before the king could speak, Frieza shot him with his death beam, a technique Vegeta was all but becoming quite familiar. The king fell dead, but Vegeta could still see Frieza. _“Hm…this planet is very dull, but I can probably get a good price. Business as usual, I suppose. I’ll just have Zarbon snuff out the rest.”_

Vegeta came to right after, his vision becoming normal, but his breathing heavier than it had been. He didn’t notice all the pairs of eyes on him…Bulma, Raditz, and Nappa all looking at the prince with concern in their eyes. Vegeta, though, he was trying to make sense of his vision. Since he could only see the future, Frieza hadn’t gone to this unnamed planet yet. The prince couldn’t remember anything distinctive about the king or who he could have represented, didn’t even recognize his voice, so it was safe to assume it was a really old ally. The king implied as much. Maybe…maybe there was still time to save him. Usually, the visions he saw were of something a little bit more distant in the future. Maybe there was still time. He kept repeating that over and over again in his mind until-

“Hey,” Yamcha said, clapping a hand down on his shoulder. Vegeta practically jumped back, still remaining in his seat as he looked to the human distrustfully. Yamcha’s eyes were also filled with concern. “You okay, man?”

The Saiyan took a moment before answering, looking around behind the Earthling and seeing many destroyed tables and Goku and Giran bantering. He swallowed down his nerves and buried his emotions behind an impassive mask. “Hmph, I should be asking _you_ that,” he decided to say, not even really knowing if Yamcha had been part of the altercation. He did think he heard his voice yelling in the background, after all.

* * *

After a while, the rain had finally stopped, and everyone was once again watching the remainder of the fights. Goku and Giran were in the ring. “And now, introducing for the second time, the last two quarter finalists, Goku and Giran!”

Giran came out into the ring, but Goku was nowhere to be seen. “Do you think the poor boy is nervous?” Launch asked.

“No, Goku would never get scared,” Bulma pointed out. She kept her worried gaze on the stage.

“Goku, hey Goku,” the announcer called. “If you’re back there, we need you to come out now.”

“He chickened out,” Giran declared. “Come on, call the match. I won.”

The other fighters, mainly Jackie Chun, Krillin, and Yamcha, all started looking for Goku and calling out for him. Eventually, the announcer gave the final call. “Attention, Goku, report to the arena in two minutes or you will forfeit your match.”

“I don’t get it, where is the little brat?” Nappa demanded. “There’s no way he could have gotten chased off by this weakling.”

Raditz leaned back in his chair. “I’m sure he’s fine. I know he was excited about the match. He wouldn’t miss it.”

Vegeta said nothing. Honestly, he was hardly paying attention, not like he was earlier. His mind was only on the innocent king Frieza would make his victim because of him and an old alliance. He was trying to remember anything substantial to go by to maybe find this race and warn them. They needed all the allies they could get against Frieza.

Finally, Ranfan called out claiming to have found Goku, and Krillin and Yamcha ran to him. They fell over when they realized that the little Saiyan had simply fallen asleep. “What are you doing, Goku?” Krillin shouted. “Wake up, you idiot!”

Goku did come to after that, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Oh, hi guys,” the child greeted.

“Are you crazy?” Krillin retorted.

“Oops, I’m sorry. I was just sitting in the sunshine and that cool breeze and I just conked out.”

“Goku, what are you doing?” the announcer cried, grabbing the child’s hand and running with him. “Come on!” When they were back in the arena, the announcer explained, “Certain circumstances prevented him from hearing my announcement.”

“I was taking a nap,” Goku replied proudly. Many in the audience fell over in utter disbelief.

“That kid is way too spoiled,” Nappa muttered bitterly. “Stupid brat.”

At least it didn’t take long for the announcer to finally declare the match.

From the get go, Giran was using his tricks. He immediately attempted to prey on Goku’s curiosity, closing his fist and saying he had a secret to show him. “If the kid falls for this, I’m going to vomit,” Nappa growled.

“He’s _fine,_ ” Raditz countered. “Kakarot isn’t going to fall for something like-” The older Saiyan was cut off when he saw Giran punch his brother who had just proven him wrong. Raditz released an exasperated sigh. It was worse than the kid thinking a Dragon Ball was his grandfather. “Just, never mind.”

Goku shocked everyone by getting right back up, unfazed and looking as if he didn’t even feel Giran’s blow. However, the child wasn’t happy by the monster’s actions. “I don’t know what you were going to show me, but I don’t even want to see it now.”

The Saiyan retaliated with a series of punches and kicks, a furious attack, and then he dragged him by his tail and threw Giran out of the ring, far away. Of course, Giran that revealed he could fly, and losing by a ring out would not be happening. He landed safely back in bounds and then spat at Goku. A bright light and a coil surrounded the small warrior, taking him by surprise. “How do you like Giran’s merry-go-round gum?” Goku could hardly move, trapped. “That’s right. Go ahead and struggle, kid. The harder your try, the harder it gets. Face it; you’re stuck.”

“What a waste,” Nappa replied. “He was warned not to let his guard down, and he did just that. Pathetic.”

“Knock it off, Nappa,” Raditz shot back, glaring at the former general despite the fact that he felt a similar disappointment. He expected more from his brother, but despite all this new training he was still just a reckless and naïve kid.

Vegeta’s grip on his arms tightened, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t know why, but seeing Goku in that position, trapped and helpless, bothered him more than he cared to admit. It was almost as bad as seeing his Earthling friend being strangled. Maybe it was because he was projecting, but this dirty move these enemies of theirs used made Vegeta want to storm in there and take over. He couldn’t, though. This was Goku’s fight, and, unless he was near death, Vegeta would never get in the way. It just wasn’t the Saiyan way to interfere in a one-on-one battle like that. Plus, it was against the rules of the tournament as well.

Giran moved to hit Goku on top of his head, dazing the little Saiyan, before he grabbed him by the hair and tossed him outside of the ring. The match was over. That is, until Goku got an idea.

“Flying Nimbus, come to me!”

The orange cloud Goku had been given by Master Roshi appeared and caught Goku before he ever touched the ground. It brought him back to the ring safely, amazing the onlookers. Giran fought the outcome, accusing Goku of cheating, but the judge ruled in Goku’s favor and the match continued; however, Goku was forbidden to use the cloud again after that.

Giran was just about to the helpless Goku with another strong punch, but at the last second he managed to dodge the strike. In fact, he used his tail to grasp onto Giran’s arm when he went to strike him, shocking all the audience members save the Saiyans and the two women accompanying them. The announcer called attention to it. “Heh, kid got lucky to think of that,” Nappa remarked. “Kind of juvenile.”

“Well, in case you’ve forgotten, he is still a kid,” Raditz scoffed. He then looked back at the ring and smiled, thinking back to times he trained with his father as a child and did the same thing to try to avoid being wrangled by the man. _Heh, we’re a lot alike, Kakarot._

Goku was relieved he was able to get out of the way thanks to his tail, and he took advantage of Giran’s surprise and focused his strength to remove the rubber gum. He was able to break free, using all of his Saiyan strength, and, as anticlimactic as it was, Giran forfeited the match, shocked by the child’s display of strength. Goku was declared the final semi-finalist.

* * *

It was after the fight, right before the semi-finals, when Nappa got Vegeta alone. The prince hadn’t been expecting someone to follow him as he went off to be alone, but the former general must have had something on his mind or at least noticed Vegeta’s agitation during the fights. His guardian remained silent, simply staring at Vegeta’s back. Vegeta grew frustrated and tightened his crossed arms. “Speak,” he ordered. “What do you want?”

“What happened back there?” Nappa asked. “Back at the bar. Where did you go?”

“I…” Vegeta started, swallowing down his nerves. He knew by now that Nappa knew of his visions. He figured it was time to tell his guardian about what he saw. If anything, maybe Nappa would know who the king in the vision was. “You know that I have visions.” He turned to face Nappa, and the general looked stunned. “Bulma told me. I had one then.”

“Seriously?” Nappa fired back, but it wasn’t out of disbelief, just surprise. “Huh? Well I’ll be damned. What did you see, kid?”

“Frieza,” Vegeta admitted, both Saiyans’ gazes hardening. “He was demanding from a king, an old ally of ours, for a possible location. The king said that they hadn’t spoken to us since years before the destruction. Frieza is going to murder that king and wipe the planet clean for sale. I…I don’t know if there is a way we can stop it from happening.”

“Do you know who the king was?” Nappa interrogated. When Vegeta shook his head, Nappa put his hand to his chin and pondered. “Any planetary features you can remember? Color of the sky? The grass? The buildings?”

“No, just the throne room,” Vegeta told him. “It was practically bare of any decorations. There was a throne, a purple one. The king’s voice was timid yet deep. The floors were a generic white. It’s not much to go on.” He took in Nappa’s thinking form. “Does _any_ of that help?”

Nappa’s gaze shifted to Vegeta, and his hands fell to his side. “Sorry, kid, but I have no idea.”

Vegeta huffed out a breath of frustration. He didn’t know what the purpose of seeing that vision was other than to taunt him that Frieza was still looking for him. The Arcosian tyrant must have decided he was going to blow through all of the Saiyans’ know allies. “Whatever,” Vegeta huffed. “I don’t even care.”

Nappa could tell it was a lie. Vegeta wouldn’t have asked if he hadn’t cared, and the desolate aura surrounding the prince as he walked away and back to the stands was telling. The general honestly felt bad for lying to the prince. Unfortunately, out of all the past allies the Saiyans had, the one Vegeta described was the worst. There was only one royal who had a purple throne. The king was an easily frightened, spineless king, one who removed himself from allying with the Saiyans simply to avoid Frieza. He would do anything to protect his people from Frieza, even surrendering Vegeta’s location. Nappa’s duty was to protect Vegeta, not another race, no matter how much Vegeta wanted to help the other innocents. He shook his head, angered at himself. These visions were just one big, jumbled mess. And Frieza…he was a monster that they needed to finally squash.

They just needed to get stronger.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own DBZ or the characters

With the anticlimactic ending of the quarterfinals, it was now time for the semifinals to begin. It was announced that Krillin would fight Jackie Chun and that Goku would fight Nam. Many were impressed that two young children had made it all the way to the semifinals. The announcer was happy to interview the boys indicating that Krillin was thirteen, but when he asks Goku his age and then put the microphone down in front of him, Goku was no longer thinking about the question but trying to figure out exactly what was being presented to him. In his defense, the Saiyans didn’t really know either. They just knew whatever it was had been projecting the blonde man’s voice for everyone in the stadium to hear. Eventually, Goku did answer the question revealing that he was twelve.

It was when the announcer started asking about Goku’s tail that the boy grew serious. He had been told by his brother and Vegeta that, for now at least, they needed to blend in. The only ones who knew about them being Saiyans were those closest to them like Bulma or Krillin or Master Roshi or Yamcha. The little Saiyan didn’t think he was supposed to tell the whole world. His eyes met Vegeta’s, the prince giving a slow shake to his head. Goku grinned at him and nodded before looking back to the interviewer who had just asked if it was real. “Why don’t I just show you?”

At that, Goku pulled down his pants and showed everyone that the tail was in fact connected to a spot over his rear. “Goku, are you crazy?” Krillin shouted. “Pull your pants up.”

Nappa, like many in the audience, was laughing boisterously. Raditz, however, couldn’t help but shake his head. It seemed no matter what his attempts, he couldn’t teach his brother what _wasn’t an appropriate time_ to do certain things.

“Let’s stick to answering the questions verbally, shall we?” the announcer murmured. Then he asked, “So, you’re both wearing the same clothing and it’s clear you know each other, so you must train together. Can you tell us about your training and your master?”

“We do regular stuff,” Krillin replied, “like farming or delivering milk, and since Master Roshi trains us, we wear big shells.”

The announcer and the members of the audience all looked flabbergasted and awed. “Did you say Master Roshi?” The Saiyans and Bulma and Launch all looked around to see people muttering stuff.

“What do you think they’re saying?” Bulma asked, her head tilting in curiosity. “Do they know him?”

“It seems like it,” Raditz responded, overhearing many say there was no wonder and that that explained everything. It seemed this Master Roshi was well-known to Earthlings. He just kept surprising the Saiyans.

“Unbelievable. You mean you boys are pupils under Master Roshi?”

“Yup,” Krillin answered. “First he told us he wasn’t accepting any new pupils, but he took us.”

“This is astounding. Master Roshi is the greatest martial arts expert in the world. What a treat having two of his students here today. The turtle hermit’s fighting style is legendary, and, as old as he must be it’s amazing he’s still alive.”

“Huh,” Nappa muttered. “I guess there is something to that old man after all.”

“Be quiet,” Vegeta grumbled, crossing his arms. He gaze was on Jackie Chun, and the fighter fell over just as soon as the announcer questioned his age. The prince smirked. This man wasn’t doing a good job of hiding himself, though Krillin and Goku did seem to be completely unaware. “I’m sure he will prove himself a worthy ally.”

Of course, moments later, Chun, or Roshi in disguise, came out and made a complete fool of himself (Goku joining him in the most ridiculous dance ever). All three Saiyans sweat-dropped and muttered under their breath, “Maybe not…”

The women looked over to the Saiyans, Launch asking Bulma, “Did they say something?”

Bulma made a humming noise sounding like “I don’t know” as she shrugged. Her eyes landed on her boyfriend. Once again, she was wondering what was on his mind. He seemed like he was feeling very tightly wound all day. She wondered if any of the battles could have shaken the prince up, but she shook that thought from her head. That seemed ridiculous given the Saiyans’ strength.

“Now that the entertainment’s finished, let the match begin!”

Krillin and Jackie Chun met each other in the center of the ring, both wearing serious looks on their faces. The silly and disturbing feelings left over the stupidity of the dance was completely smothered by the tension between the two fighters. It was like that practical jokester of a man was lost once a battle was at hand. Vegeta was impressed by how quickly the master could shift gears.

The thirteen-year-old fighter charged at his older opponent, attempting to land some blows, but Jackie Chun was able to dodge each and every strike with ease. He avoided all of Krillin’s kicks to the face, despite how fast they appeared. Eventually, Krillin’s strikes were coming in faster, and Jackie needed to block him instead of dodging. “You’ve got some power behind those punches,” Jackie Chun complimented. “Not too bad.” They two pushed back from each other, Krillin not responding to the man’s words. “Now let’s check your speed.”

Jackie Chun quickly fazed in front of Krillin and practically tapped him, sending the boy back into a wall. Krillin couldn’t believe he had been hit. He hadn’t even seen anything coming towards him. The child knew his opponent was strong, but he didn’t realize he was that much fast than him too. He had no idea how he was going to win if he couldn’t even see him.

“Hey, Krillin, get up.” The fighter looked over to Goku, his rival turned best friend. The Saiyan decided to offer some advice. “Look, he’s fast.” That had been an understatement. “But so what? You are too. Besides, I saw it.”

“You did?” Krillin asked, amazed.

“Yeah, and you can too,” Goku offered. “You’ve had the same training as me.”

That hadn’t been entirely true, Krillin figured, since Goku lived with the Saiyans and probably watched them train. However, he did have a point. They were around the same strength, for the most part, since the start of their training. Goku did excel faster, but Krillin always managed to catch up to him somehow. Maybe, if his friend could see it, if Krillin really focused hard enough, he could see it too.

So, Krillin returned to the fight, and he and his opponent exchanged a blow. To the naked eye, it seemed like nothing happened as they flew passed one another, but it was clear that something did happen.

“Interesting,” Raditz stated as he watched the two. “Vegeta, what do you think?”

Vegeta stayed quiet, not wanting to miss a second. Both fighters moved incredibly fast. The prince wondered if the Earthlings could see it, but his musings were answered when his girlfriend asked, “Wait, what are you guys talking about? What happened?”

“I don’t know about you folks, but they were moving so fast I couldn’t see what happened,” the announcer confirmed. “That’s what I call speed.” Krillin and Jackie Chun attacked each other once more, and Krillin fell forward. Goku put a hand over his face after witnessing the whole exchange. He went closer to his friend to cheer for him and encourage him to get back up again. Krillin was standing again right before the end of the ten count.

This time the announcer asked them to slowly reenact what happened for no one had any clue as to what had happened to the boy save the Saiyans. The two repeated their movements, but slower, both approaching each other. Jackie Chun explained that he attempted a kick, and Krillin explained that he saw it coming and dodged, and then the he tried to land a punch. Then, the older fighter spit at Krillin, surprising him and grossing him out so he pulled his punch back. Chun then tried to send a hard left his way, but Krillin countered with his own spit. So the veteran fighter decided to use a distraction, a game of rock-paper-scissors, and Krillin gave in. Since it was just a distraction, Jackie Chun then kicked Krillin in the face. The boy admitted that despite landing perfect, his head hurt so badly that he couldn’t keep it together so he fell.

Everyone was so amazed by the speed of the two fighters. Despite the juvenile antics, even the Saiyans were impressed. “If this is what he was able to do with the kid, just think about how much faster Kakarot has gotten,” Raditz marveled. He smirked and looked over to Nappa with an impish glint to his eye. “Got anything to say, general?”

“Hmph,” Nappa scoffed, looking away. “Don’t get cocky. The brat’s last fight wasn’t all that impressive. We’ll see what he’s like against a real opponent.”

“Do you ever not complain?” Bulma huffed, earning a glare from the former general. Her expression matched his before he ever looked at her. It was scary similar to the look the prince was currently giving him.

“Whatever,” he grumbled before looking back to the center ring where the disguised turtle hermit and his student were about to enter another exchange.

The fight continued to have a perverse air as Krillin took out a pair of panties and threw it in Jackie Chun’s direction. When the old man fell for such a blatant trick and went for the panties, Krillin kicked him hard. He flew far out of the ring, but he surprised everyone when he blasted himself back into the ring with a Kamehameha Wave, a move that was thought to be a move only Master Roshi had known. The evidence was now there, but still no one questioned it.

“He’s lucky everyone here is so dense,” Nappa ridiculed. “If they weren’t, that would have just exposed his identity.”

“Huh?” Launch breathed out. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, I’m with her,” Bulma stated. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Vegeta told the woman. “Just keep watching the fight.”

 _Easy for him to say when he can see everything that’s happening,_ Bulma thought to herself. She looked over to Launch and smiled. _At least I’m not alone in that._

After that whole ordeal, Krillin began attacking wildly, and that was his undoing. Jackie Chun confused him even more by using the after-image technique. The intangible copies of him left behind had Krillin completely puzzled. He hit Krillin in just the right way with a powerful blow from behind, and the boy was done, knocked out giving Jackie Chun the win.

* * *

The next match of the semifinals was about to begin. Goku and his opponent, Nam, both entered the ring prepared for battle. Unaware of Nam’s internal struggles, Goku was just happy that he was about to fight another strong opponent. Vegeta noticed, though, that there was something about the other fighter. His gaze was serious and his posture was tense. This wasn’t just a fight to him. There was something else going on inside his head, and the aura exuding from him made Vegeta believe that this man felt like he was fighting for life and death.

 _Kakarot better be careful,_ he internally told himself. He wasn’t used to fights to the death, not yet anyway. It was a relief that the tournament actually forbade it. That training would come with time once the boy got the basics down.

The gong rang, and the two fighters got into their stances. Both fighters looked determined and like they knew what they were doing, but if someone was inside Little Goku’s mind, they would have seen that he was deliberating on what his opening move should be. He quickly decided to use the move that Jackie Chun had used to defeat Krillin. The boy started laughing as he created an afterimage of himself, confusing his opponent immensely.

Nam, though, was a more trained fighter than Goku with years of experience under his belt. He focused on Goku’s position and managed to dodge before Goku could land his kick. It was a good think, or else he surely would have been knocked out of the ring. There was no way he wasn’t going to take this child seriously. The villager had seen how challenging this child could be. He avoided the attack and moved to land a kick, but Goku was fast and saw it coming. The Saiyan avoided the hit, and the two fell back into their stances.

“Wow,” Goku exclaimed under his breath. “I can’t believe he saw that one coming. I thought I had him.”

On the sidelines, Jackie Chun, Krillin, and Yamcha were watching. The two younger fighters looked shocked, and Chun looked a bit perturbed as well. “Did you just see what Goku did?” Yamcha questioned. “He already learned the move you used to beat Krillin.”

Roshi had seen, and it surprised him immensely despite knowing that fighting was in the child’s blood. He looked out into the stadium, observing the three Saiyans. Raditz seemed pleased with the progress, the big, bald one appearing bored. What startled Roshi most was that Vegeta’s eyes would not leave either fighter, and there was a hint of concern flickering in his dark eyes paired with a tapping finger. He knew something the others did not, and it caused Roshi to watch Goku’s competitor even harder. “But Nam was able to react, and that is impressive as well.”

Nam flung a barrage of kicks at Goku, the boy blocking each strike. When Nam slowed down, Goku began to punch at the fighter, and this time Nam was the one to block the hits. Then, when Goku was distracted, Nam managed to push him back only to be tripped by the child. Goku then struck Nam at his center, and the villager went flying into the building. Thankfully for Nam, he was able to use the building to send himself flying at the boy. He managed to land a decisive chop on the boy’s neck. Goku was down.

Nam saw an opening to end the battle and charged at Goku, but Goku stopped him dead in his tracks with his tail, pulling the man over. “What ya think?” Goku asked happily. “Pretty handy, isn’t it?”

The villager managed to sit up, completely affronted. “I was not expecting that,” he declared.

“That boy better stop highlighting that tail,” Nappa muttered under his breath. “Eventually, someone’s going to pull on it, and then it will be lights out.”

“Huh?” Bulma questioned, looking to the brute. Launch also looked interested. “What do you mean?”

Raditz looked a little apprehensive to answer her wondering, and Nappa completely shut down. It was Vegeta who surprised his comrades by telling the women such privileged information. “Our tails are our weak points. Many Saiyans trained to get rid of that weakness, but Kakarot has not had the opportunity.”

The long-haired warrior sighed. “Every time we tried, something else always stole the kid’s interest away. We keep highlighting how important it is, but he just doesn’t seem to care.”

And Goku really didn’t care. His mind was solely on what new moves and techniques he could try out in the fight. The perfect one came to him. “Hey,” he called out to his opponent excitedly, “I just thought of an attack that I think you’re really going to like.”

Goku’s joviality perplexed Nam. “Huh?” he breathed out. “What do you call it?”

“Tornado!” Goku yelled out before he began to spin super quickly. He hit into Nam multiple times, the village fighter finding it impossible to counter Goku’s movements. Nam was being pushed back by the child at an alarming rate, and eventually Nam found himself to be backed into the corner of the ring with Goku still coming towards him.

Surprisingly enough, Nam was not knocked out of the ring. Apparently, Goku lost his stamina and made himself dizzy from the spinning. He couldn’t follow through with the attack, a lucky break for the villager and an annoyance to the former Saiyan general. Nam nearly fell out of the ring, but caught himself, steadied himself. Then, he went for his own finisher.

Knowing that Goku was a dangerous opponent, Nam decided to use his aerial attack. He leapt up high into the air, prepared to hit the dozing Goku with full strength. He didn’t wish to harm the boy, but his people needed him to win. It was a necessity.

Launch gasped, and Bulma was at the edge of her seat. “Oh no! Goku, get up!”

The boy opened his eyes, but still was completely disoriented in the ring. Raditz’s brow quirked in surprise. He looked to Vegeta. “You don’t think he’ll lose, do you?” Vegeta answered with a shrug, knowing how determined this other fighter was. The prince hoped he would win, though, for the boy’s sake and so that Kakarot didn’t have to hear from Nappa what a “disgrace” he was. Plus, the young Saiyan needed all the experience he could get. One day, hopefully in the far, distant future, they would eventually face Frieza, and that monster was more powerful than the entire human race combined.

Kakarot had to win.

Nam’s aerial attack hit Goku dead on, horrifying Bulma and Launch and so many others in the audience watching the fight. Even Krillin, Yamcha, and Jackie Chun looked completely bothered by the assault. The Saiyans kept their eyes on the child, all having the feeling that their youngest member wasn’t done just yet. Bulma looked to Vegeta, about to say something about the scene in front of them, but she saw that his eyes remained glued to the boy. His gaze was stern, but eyes soft. There was something there, though, like a determined glint to his coal eyes urging the child to get up and keep fighting.

Despite this, though, it seemed all hope was lost. Nam’s aerial assault was designed to leave his opponent unconscious. Goku, like all the others, closed his eyes and stopped struggling. Only then did Nam release him. He stood tall and held his hands together uttering the words, “Forgive me.”

“Good heavens, what a blow!” the announcer called out. “Goku’s out…”

Nam remained in his spot and said, “I think it’s time for you to count.” The announcer was taken aback, still suffering from shock. He then started the ten count. Everyone around assumed Goku was out.

Still, the Saiyans didn’t take their eyes off of the ring, and that’s how Bulma knew that Little Goku was not down for the count.

When the announcer hit nine, Goku’s fingers twitched, and he hopped up from his spot in the ring. Once again, everyone was shocked. Vegeta and Raditz both smirked at the boy who was trying to regain his composure. That last attack had definitely hurt him, but he was a Saiyan and it was in his blood to keep going. Nappa muttered something under his breath about the kid cutting it close, but it didn’t matter. Goku was still in the fight!

The announcer was impressed, talking highly about the little fighter. Nam was completely baffled. He had just used his best attack, and his best attack had failed him. There was nothing left in his arsenal. He managed to convince himself that his aim was just off, and so he attempted another aerial assault. This time, though, Goku was ready for it. He jumped into the air along with Nam. As Nam came down, Goku was still going up. The other fighter was startled by the child’s presence and fell out of his position. From above, Goku used his momentum to go back towards Nam. Instead of attacking, Goku decided he was going to fall alongside Nam too. “Wow, it’s great up here!” the child chimed. “It’s a shame that I have to beat ya.”

Nam began to use his arms like swimming to move himself to Goku’s position. “No you don’t.”

Goku did the same to get away from him. “It’s nothing personal.” In response, Nam tried to punch Goku, but Goku pushed himself further down in the airstream. The two then headed downward towards the ring.

“This is incredible! Breathtaking! They’re actually fighting each in midair! I’ve never seen anything like this. Goku and Nam are conducting their match up in the sky as if they had wings!”

“If this impresses them, then we’re on even more of a backwater planet than I thought,” Nappa grumbled, and Vegeta cut a glare over to him.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, prince.”

Launch overheard this and looked to Bulma. “Prince?”

Bulma nodded. “Remember when they were telling that story the other day, about Frieza?” Launch nodded. “Well, Vegeta is their prince.”

The other woman seemed surprised and smiled. “It’s good that they escaped.”

Although Bulma was about to agree, their attention was stolen by the two in the arena. They were about to land, and Nam planned to attack Goku after he landed first. Surprisingly, Goku anticipated this. After landing, he pushed himself back and prepared himself to launch a powerful kick. By the time Nam was in position to hit the ground, Goku was already in trajectory to kick him. The kick sent Nam out of the ring, and the announcer called the match when the fighter hit the ground. Cheers could be heard from all around the stadium.

Krillin jumped into the ring, the two boys hugging and celebrating the fact that Goku won his semi-final match. Nam was back on his feet moments later, a serious look on his face. This alerted the Saiyans, all watching as he approached Goku. They were ready to get involved, sensing the possibility that the man would attack the child. Instead, they were stunned when Nam merely smiled at Goku and offered his hand. They could hear the words “good match” being spoken in the distance, the three exchanging glances of confusion.

“What’s up?” Bulma asked, noticing Vegeta’s countenance.

“Nothing,” Vegeta clipped a bit too hurriedly. “Everything is fine.”

And it was fine, just the Saiyans were unused to witnessing such a pure display. In their line of work and training, they had only seen the most horrific sights. People despised them, and the Saiyans really had no concern for life on other worlds. They had only ever experienced evil save on this green and blue world. Vegeta had seen a lot about himself and Bulma, but it didn’t prepare him to witness such kindness after such an intense battle. Goku happily accepted Nam’s handshake, the man telling the boy that it was an honor to fight him, and Goku thanked him and told him he was a great fighter. Vegeta managed to hide the smile that threatened to display itself on his face.

* * *

There was a short break before Goku’s final fight with Jackie Chun, and the Saiyans had left the arena to stretch their legs, quietly conversing about Kakarot’s match, both the positive and negative points. They came across Nam leaving, and Jackie Chun was with him. He tossed the fighter a storage capsule and started telling him the different possibilities of transporting food or water in it.

“Uh, how did you know I’m in great need of water?” Nam questioned, baffled.

“Minds are just like books, Nam,” Chun replied. “They’re easy to read if you know how.”

Nam, as well as the Saiyans, were in complete disbelief. “What that guy said is true,” Nam said, indicating that another conversation had taken place in the back. “You really are Master Roshi!”

Roshi quickly shushed the man. He looked back towards the building where they had just come from. “They can’t find out my secret. The three fighters I was trying to get away from in there, well, two of them have been my students for some time. The two little ones are mine. The bald one’s name is Krillin, the other one, the one going to the finals is Goku. He’s something else. Goku has tremendous power, but I don’t have to tell you that. You fought him yourself.”

“Yes,” Nam agreed. “He seems unbeatable.”

“Yes, that’s why I came,” Roshi explained. “To see to it that he doesn’t win this tournament.” Nappa was about to barge into the conversation, but Vegeta held him back and shook his head when Nappa’s eyes questioned his. “You see, Goku and Krillin are just boys. All they’re really interested in is having fun. To them, martial arts is an amazing game. They live to get better at it in the hopes that one day they’ll be able to hang with the best. They have no idea that they’re already in the pinnacle of the sport. I’m afraid that if they do, they’ll lose interest, because if you’re on the top then there’s nothing left to shoot for.”

Roshi stopped talking for a moment, his eyes finding the Saiyans. Of course, they all knew there was something else out there. Goku and Krillin both knew of it, but they couldn’t fathom that true power. They had to keep their interest sparked in training, even with the limited challenges they’d face. The other Saiyans were already dealing with lackluster training as it was.

“But if they think there are guys out there who are stronger than they are, like Jackie Chun for instance, then they’ll continue to give it everything they have, train like the wild animals they really are, totally carefree and uninhibited without a trace of ego. So, Nam, I don’t want Goku and Krillin to know how great they really are. That’s why I came to beat the pants off of them.”

Nam was honored that Roshi would share his secret. The fighter attempted to give the capsule back saying he couldn’t use it as he was counting on the prize money to buy water for his homeland. Roshi didn’t take it back, instead he asked Nam to follow him for he had something to show him. He brought him over to a well and explained that water was abundant in that region of the world and as free as breathing air. Nam was so elated and thankful to finally be able to get this resource for his people.

 _So that’s what it was all about,_ Vegeta thought, thinking back to the life-or-death glint in Nam’s eyes. He had no intention of harming the young Saiyan, but instead was thinking of his people. The fighter wanted to do everything he could to save his people. Vegeta felt a pang go off inside at him, one that related to the human in so many ways.

Jackie Chun was called back to fight, and was about to leave for the finals match. Nam promised he’d never forget what Roshi did for him, and Roshi was telling him it was nothing. Then, Roshi got an idea. He then asked if Nam would be interested in doing him a favor. It seemed Roshi thought of a way to get the boys off their suspicions by having Nam impersonate him. That way, when Yamcha again guessed it was him, Chun could point Roshi out in the crowd.

The Saiyans were left alone, ready to head back. Raditz looked to Vegeta and said, “I never thought that that Roshi guy would ever understand that. Kakarot could easily wipe the floor with all of them. But…does he really think he can defeat him?”

Vegeta shrugged. “I wouldn’t underestimate him. After all, he is more observant than we gave him credit for. He just may have a few tricks up his sleeve that Kakarot will not see coming.”

“Hn, the boy lacks experience and discipline,” Nappa growled. “If that idiot can teach it to him, that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about.”

Raditz and Vegeta rolled their eyes as Nappa went back into the arena. The prince was about to follow, but Raditz held him back. Vegeta questioned the older Saiyan with his eyes. “Do you really believe _that guy_ can mellow out?”

Vegeta smirked. “Like I said, don’t underestimate the Earthlings. They’ll surprise you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: ...So I seriously underestimated how long it would take me to add all my stories from FFN here. After more than two weeks, I finally got to 31 out 95 posted. A third. Lol. I'm hoping once I start getting to my one-shots that will be easier. In any case, this is all I have for this story thus far. Like another story I already posted here called Paranoia, this story takes me quite a bit of time to write. Anyways, hopefully by the end of December I'll be able to post regularly both on FFN and AO3 and get back to actually working on my in-progress stories. Hope you're all enjoying so far :D


End file.
